Highlands Ranch hasn't had much luck against Chaparral recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Highlands Ranch Falcons will be staying on the road to face off against the Chaparral Wolverines at 3:30 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty run totals in their previous games.
Highlands Ranch's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. Everything went their way against Smoky Hill as Highlands Ranch made off with a 13-0 victory. With that win, the Falcons brought their scoring average up to 6.4 runs per game.
Puna Toelupe was a major factor no matter where she played. On the mound, she didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit while striking out seven over four innings pitched. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive pitching appearances. She was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-3. That's the most strikeouts she has posted since back in August.
In other batting news, Bridget Nittler was incredible, going 2-for-3 with three RBI, a triple, and a run. The last time her batting average was this high was back in August of 2023. The team also got some help courtesy of Brooklyn Swanson, who scored two runs while going 2-for-3.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Highlands Ranch was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .444. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Smoky Hill only posted a batting average of .143.
Meanwhile, Chaparral had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8.8 runs), and they went ahead and made it five on Wednesday. They were the clear victor by a 15-5 margin over the Jaguars.
Chaparral also got a great performance from Sally Helgoth as she tossed five innings while giving up just one earned (and four unearned) runs off seven hits.
At the plate, Ashlyn Burgess was incredible, firing off two home runs, four runs, and four RBI while going 3-for-3. Mikayla Bogucki was another key player, going 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBI.
Highlands Ranch's record is now 5-10. As for Chaparral, the victory also got them back to even at 7-7.
Chaparral's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Friday. Highlands Ranch has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Chaparral, though, as they've been averaging only 3.2. Will Highlands Ranch keep running through batters, or will Chaparral buck the trend?
Highlands Ranch couldn't quite finish off Chaparral in their previous meeting back in September of 2023 and fell 2-0. Can Highlands Ranch avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
