The Middle Park Panthers will head out to challenge the Arvada Bulldogs at 4:00 p.m. on Monday.
Middle Park is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 14 runs on Monday, they were much more limited against Bennett on Thursday. They came up short against the Tigers, falling 8-0. While getting shut out isn't ideal, the Panthers haven't been shut out since back in March.
Meanwhile, it may have taken eight innings to finish the job, but Arvada ultimately got the result they hoped for on Wednesday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with an 8-7 victory over Fort Lupton. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Bulldogs have posted since March 10th.
Cameron Henderson and Asher Buehrle made a big impact while hitting and pitching. Throwing, Henderson struck out ten batters over six innings while giving up three earned (and three unearned) runs off four hits. Meanwhile, Buehrle pitched two innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. He also tossed no walks, which is notable because Arvada is undefeated when he allows at most two walks, but 3-4 otherwise. At the plate, Henderson got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two stolen bases and one run, while Buehrle went 2-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI. Henderson is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged two or more in each of the last five games he's played.
In other batting news, Isaac Martinez was excellent, getting on base in three of his five plate appearances with two stolen bases and one RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Ramon Corpus, who went 1-for-3 with two runs.
Arvada is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 7-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 13.4 runs over those games. As for Middle Park, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-6.
Middle Park came out on top in a nail-biter against Arvada in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, sneaking past 5-4. Do the Panthers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Bulldogs turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
