Softball Game Preview: Shadow Hills Knights vs. Coachella Valley Mighty Arabs

The Shadow Hills Knights will challenge the Coachella Valley Mighty Arabs at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Shadow Hills sitting on six straight wins and Coachella Valley on four.

Shadow Hills had to skate by with only a one-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the 24-run drubbing they dealt Xavier Prep on Friday. Shadow Hills' pitchers stepped up to hand Xavier Prep a 24-0 shutout. The Knights might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four contests by 20 runs or more this season.

Karla Cerda

Batters Struck Out (Career)

03/14/25 @ Xavier Prep	6
03/07/25 vs Palm Springs	4
03/04/25 @ Palm Springs	4
02/20/24 vs Palo Verde Valley	4
03/11/25 vs Xavier Prep	3

Ava Valenzuela and Karla Cerda made a big impact while hitting and pitching. Throwing, Valenzuela struck out six batters over two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (and not a single walk). Meanwhile, Cerda struck out six batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and not a single walk). Those six strikeouts gave her a new career-high. At bat, Valenzuela scored two runs while going 2-for-2, while Cerda scored two runs while getting on base in all three of her plate appearances.

In other batting news, Shadow Hills let Gianna Hernandez and Annabelle Alvarez run wild. Hernandez went a perfect 2-for-2 with one home run, four RBI, and two runs, while Alvarez went a perfect 2-for-2 with one home run and four RBI. Hernandez has been hot recently, having posted three or more RBI the last three times she's played. Camila Zacatecas was another key player, scoring a run while going 2-for-2.

Shadow Hills always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .766. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.

Meanwhile, Coachella Valley made easy work of Cathedral City on Monday and carried off a 9-3 victory.

Shadow Hills pushed their record up to 6-1 with the win, which was their 11th straight on the road dating back to last season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 13.3 runs. As for Coachella Valley, their victory bumped their record up to 4-0.

Shadow Hills took their win against Coachella Valley when the teams last played back in May of 2024 by a conclusive 15-0. Will Shadow Hills repeat their success, or does Coachella Valley have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.