Baseball Game Preview: Maryvale Panthers vs. South Mountain Jaguars

For the second straight game, Maryvale will face off against South Mountain. The Panthers will welcome the Jaguars at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday. Maryvale is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.3 runs per game this season.

Having struggled with five defeats in a row, Maryvale turned things around against South Mountain on Tuesday. They walked away with an 8-3 victory over the Jaguars.

Nathan Benavidez was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing 5.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off three hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (five). He was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.

Christian Valdez

Hits

04/22/25 @ South Mountain	3
04/04/25 vs Tempe	3
03/06/25 vs Independence	3
04/08/25 vs Browne	2
04/01/25 @ Camelback	2
+ 4 more games

In other batting news, Christian Valdez was incredible, going 3-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and one double. Maryvale is undefeated when Valdez posts three or more hits, but 4-12 otherwise. Angel Morales was another key player, going 2-for-4 with one run, one double, and one RBI.

Maryvale's win bumped their record up to 7-12. As for South Mountain, they are on a 26-game losing streak (dating back to last season) that has dropped them down to 0-20.

The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Thursday as neither team is afraid to steal. Maryvale has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 4 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like South Mountain struggles in that department as they've been averaging 3.8 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.