The Sultana Sultans will take on the Apple Valley Sun Devils at 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Sultana sitting on 15 straight victories and Apple Valley on eight.
On Thursday, Sultana beat Hesperia 4-1.
Brody Sappington spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered a run (which was unearned) on eight hits and racked up six Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in six consecutive appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Alex Gamez, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one home run and two runs. LJ Borrego was another key player, going 1-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI.
Meanwhile, while Apple Valley put up some runs on Thursday, the same can't be said for Burroughs. The Sun Devils put the hurt on the Burros with a sharp 6-0 win. The result was nothing new for the Sun Devils, who have now won ten contests by six runs or more so far this season.
Ashton Armijo looked comfortable as he kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out six over four innings pitched. Those six strikeouts gave him a new career-high.
On the hitting side, Ethyn Doyle was excellent, going 1-for-3 with one home run. The team also got some help courtesy of Aril Jackson, who earned one RBI, one run, and two stolen bases.
Sultana pushed their record up to 19-2-1 with the victory, which was their ninth straight on the road. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.4 runs on average over those games. As for Apple Valley, their record now sits at 19-5.
Both Sultana and Apple Valley just can't seem to miss. The Sultans have been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 10 hits per game. However, it's not like Apple Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 5.4 hits. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Sultana took their victory against Apple Valley in their previous matchup back in March by a conclusive 12-6 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Sultans since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
