Coronado is 2-8 against Palo Verde since May of 2021 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Coronado Cougars will be staying on the road to face off against the Palo Verde Panthers at 3:00 p.m. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Coronado is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Reno and snuck past 5-4.
Matthew Moreno Jackson was excellent, going 1-for-2 with a home run and two RBI.
Meanwhile, Palo Verde came tearing into Thursday's game with ten straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 6.2 runs) and they left with even more momentum. Their pitcher stepped up to hand the Miners a 1-0 shutout.
The result came thanks to Zach Bender's shutout, as he gave up just one hit and racked up 11 Ks. He also set a new season high mark in walks with no.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Drew Kaplan, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with two stolen bases. Another player making a difference was Jace Jefferies, who went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases.
Coronado has been performing well recently as they've won nine of their last 11 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 23-13 record this season. As for Palo Verde, their victory bumped their record up to 26-10.
Friday's contest might come down to which pitcher can control the ball better. Coronado has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .441. However, it's not like Palo Verde struggles in that department as they've averaged .446. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Coronado suffered a grim 11-0 defeat to Palo Verde in their previous matchup on Friday. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Palo Verde's Hayden Lucibello, who kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits over five innings pitched. Now that Coronado knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
