Baseball Game Preview: Wickenburg Wranglers vs. Madison Highland Prep Heat

The Wickenburg Wranglers will be defending their home field for the first time this season when they go up against the Madison Highland Prep Heat at 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday. Wickenburg is coming into the contest on a four-game losing streak dating back to last season.

Wickenburg's tournament run continued when they took on Santa Cruz Valley on Friday. Wickenburg took a 6-2 hit to the loss column at the hands of Santa Cruz Valley.

Wickenburg saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Easton Forbrook, who scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances.

Meanwhile, Madison Highland Prep gave their fans exactly what they wanted out of a home opener on Friday. Their pitchers stepped up to hand Highland Prep a 10-0 shutout. The win continues a trend for the Heat in their matchups with the Honey Badgers: they've now won eight in a row.

Aidan Zuber made a big impact no matter where he played. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only a hit while striking out 16 over 5.1 innings pitched. Those 16 strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing four bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. He is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now stole at least one in each of the last three games he's played dating back to last season.

In other batting news, Nate Garcia and Rhett Clemens did most of the damage at the plate: Garcia went 3-for-4 with four RBI, two doubles, and one stolen base, while Clemens scored three runs and stole three bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. The dominant performance gave Garcia a new career-high in doubles. Dylan Bethge was another key player, scoring three runs and stealing a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.

Wickenburg's defeat dropped their record down to 0-3. As for Madison Highland Prep, their victory was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 1-0.