Baseball Preview: Cactus Shadows Falcons vs. Verrado Vipers
The Cactus Shadows Falcons will be playing in front of their home fans against the Verrado Vipers at 3:45 p.m. on Friday. Given that both teams suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this match.
Cactus Shadows fought the good fight in their extra-innings matchup against Chaparral on Tuesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Firebirds by a score of 7-5. Cactus Shadows has struggled against Chaparral recently, as their contest on Tuesday was their fourth consecutive lost matchup.
Cactus Shadows got a good showing from Dallas Dunn, who tossed two innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. Dunn has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Evan Hanish and Hawk Licari did some serious damage despite the final result: Hanish went 1-for-3 with a home run, while Licari went 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Jack Scully, who scored two runs while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, it was a hard-fought game, but Verrado had to settle for a 6-5 loss against Canyon View on Thursday. Verrado has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Braxton Bjur spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered four earned (and two unearned) runs on nine hits and racked up seven Ks.
At the plate, Verrado saw seven different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Ryan Beaumont, who scored a run while going 2-for-4. The team also got some help courtesy of Nolan Raissle, who scored a run while going 1-for-1.
Cactus Shadows' defeat dropped their record down to 11-13-1. As for Verrado, their loss dropped their record down to 11-14.
Cactus Shadows beat Verrado 6-2 in their previous matchup back in March of 2023. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Verrado's Tyler Acton, who scored a run and stole four bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be that much easier for Cactus Shadows to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
