Desert Vista and Mountain View are an even 5-5 against one another since May of 2019, but likely not for long. The Thunder will host the Toros at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Desert Vista is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.1 runs per game this season.
On Monday, Desert Vista beat Boulder Creek 8-3. The Thunder haven't had any issues with the Jaguars recently, as the game was their third consecutive victory against them.
Kason Webb tossed a big game, striking out six batters over five innings while giving up three earned runs off six hits (and not a single walk). He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in ten consecutive appearances.
Noah Gutierrez
| 04/28/25 vs Boulder Creek | 3 |
| 04/01/25 vs Brophy College Prep | 2 |
| 03/03/25 @ Chandler | 2 |
| 04/10/24 vs Gilbert | 2 |
| 04/18/25 vs Valley Vista | 1 |
At the plate, Noah Gutierrez was a standout: he went 1-for-3 with three stolen bases and two runs. Those three stolen bases gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Hudson Droz, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with two runs and one RBI.
Meanwhile, it can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Mountain View had no problem doing just that on Wednesday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand the Hawks a 1-0 shutout.
Not much got past Justice Yanke, who gave up just four hits to keep Highland off the board. Yanke also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Mountain View is undefeated when he allows at most one earned run, but 9-11 otherwise.
On the hitting side, Mountain View saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Ryan Person, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base.
Mountain View is on a roll lately: they've won 13 of their last 16 matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 17-11 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.4 runs on average over those games. As for Desert Vista, their victory bumped their record up to 18-9.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Saturday. Desert Vista 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 Mountain View 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.
Desert Vista took their win against Mountain View in their previous matchup back in March by a conclusive 19-5 score. Do the Thunder have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Toros turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
