The Pueblo West Cyclones will be staying on the road on Friday to face off against the Discovery Canyon Thunder at 3:30 p.m. Pueblo West knows how to get runs on the board -- the team has finished with ten run or more in their past three games -- so hopefully Discovery Canyon likes a good challenge.
On Thursday, Pueblo West made easy work of Fountain-Fort Carson and carried off a 16-1 win. Considering the Cyclones have won four matchups by more than ten runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Payton Odell was a standout: she scored three runs while going 1-for-2. The team also got some help courtesy of Caitlin Blomdahl, who scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in all three of her plate appearances.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Pueblo West didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with seven strikeouts. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 3.6 strikeouts per game earlier this season, but in their last five matches they've averaged 6.8.
Meanwhile, Discovery Canyon earned a 9-6 victory over Air Academy on Wednesday.
Bella Holcomb made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out nine batters over seven innings while giving up four earned (and two unearned) runs off eight hits. The dominant performance gave her a new career-high in strikeouts. She was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while going 2-for-4.
In other batting news, Taylor McCann and Jasmine Castro did most of the damage at the plate: McCann went 2-for-3 with two runs, a triple, and an RBI, while Castro went 1-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. Another player making a difference was Ruby Campbell, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 1-for-1.
Pueblo West's record is now 7-3. As for Discovery Canyon, their win was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 5-6.
Discovery Canyon's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Pueblo West has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 8.9 hits per game. It's a different story for Discovery Canyon, though, as they've been averaging 9.1. Given Pueblo West's sizable advantage in that area, Discovery Canyon will need to find a way to close that gap.
Pueblo West skirted past Discovery Canyon 4-2 in their previous matchup back in August. Does Pueblo West have another victory up their sleeve, or will Discovery Canyon turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
