The O'Connor Eagles will square off against the Basha Bears at 3:45 p.m. on Monday. O'Connor will be looking to extend their current four-game winning streak.
O'Connor is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Arizona's top teams: Desert Vista, who was ranked fourth at the time (O'Connor was ranked 13th). The Eagles were the clear victors by a 10-1 margin over the Thunder on Friday. The Eagles might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 16 contests by six runs or more this season.
AJ Anderson spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on five hits. He has been consistent: he hasn't given up more than one walk in five consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Brent Sollars was incredible, going 3-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Mikey Gyde, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with three runs and one RBI.
Meanwhile, Basha beat Tolleson 5-1 on Friday.
Dylan Clementz made a splash while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. What's more, he posted four strikeouts, the most he's had since back in March. He was also solid in the batter's box, going a perfect 2-for-2 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
In other pitching news, Parker Biltimier looked comfortable as he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has become a key player for Basha: the team is 5-1-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 7-11 otherwise.
Clementz wasn't the only one making solid contact as five players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Ethan Clark, who went 1-for-3 with one run and one RBI. Clayton Cooper was another, going 2-for-3 with one RBI.
Basha was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .385. They are 4-2 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
O'Connor's win bumped their record up to 20-8-1. As for Basha, the victory got them back to even at 12-12-1.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Monday. O'Connor hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.6 home runs per game. However, it's not like Basha struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.4 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
