Shadow Mountain hasn't had much luck against Thunderbird recently, but that could start to change on Monday. The Matadors will host the Titans at 3:45 p.m. The two teams are strolling into their contests after big wins in their previous games.
Shadow Mountain took a loss when they played away from home on Wednesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They blew past Moon Valley 15-3. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last five times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.
Jacob Alden
| 04/17/25 vs Moon Valley | 5 |
| 03/06/25 @ Agua Fria | 3 |
| 04/08/25 @ Goldwater | 1 |
| 03/28/25 vs Prospect Ridge Academy | 1 |
| 03/20/25 vs La Junta | 1 |
Jacob Alden made a splash while hitting and pitching. He didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit over four innings pitched. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (five). He was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-2 with three RBI. He has become a key player for Shadow Mountain: the team is 2-1 when he posts at least three RBI, but 7-11-1 otherwise.
In other batting news, Gavin Lieske and Andy Chaplick did most of the damage at the plate: Lieske went a perfect 2-for-2 with three RBI, two runs, and one double, while Chaplick went 2-for-4 with four runs, one triple, and one RBI. That's the most RBI Lieske has posted since back in March. Jack Zauner was another key player, going 2-for-3 with four runs.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Thunderbird). They never let Greenway get on the board and left with a 16-0 victory on Thursday. The Titans might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won nine matches by seven runs or more this season.
Like Shadow Mountain, Thunderbird also got a great game from a two-way player: Patrick Ramon. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. Ramon has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in 11 consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going a perfect 2-for-2 with one RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Matt Hornburg, who went 2-for-4 with four RBI, two runs, and one triple. Another player making a difference was Andrew Cohill, who got on base in two of his three plate appearances with three runs, one stolen base, and one RBI.
Thunderbird always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .607. They are a perfect 6-0 when they post an OBP of .513 or better.
The win was the third in a row for Thunderbird, bringing their record up to 14-9. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.0 runs on average over those games. As for Shadow Mountain, their win bumped their record up to 9-12-1.
Shadow Mountain might still be hurting after the 16-9 loss they got from Thunderbird in their previous matchup back in April of 2024. Can the Matadors avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
