The Bonanza Bengals will take on the Legacy Longhorns at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Bonanza is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. Everything went their way against Cimarron-Memorial as they made off with a 16-1 victory. The high-scoring effort was just what the Bengals needed considering they were shut out in their previous contest.
John Willard was a major factor no matter where he played. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out seven over four innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up a single walk in three consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with one home run and three RBI.
In other batting news, Dillon Owens was a standout: he went 3-for-4 with three runs, four RBI, and one triple. That's the most hits he has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Darren McGee, who got on base in four of his five plate appearances with four RBI and two runs.
Bonanza was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .455. They are a perfect 8-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Legacy, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Thursday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Clark a 9-0 shutout on Friday. The Longhorns might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won nine matchups by six runs or more this season.
The result came thanks to David Paiz's shutout, as he gave up just seven hits. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Legacy is 4-1 when he allows at most three earned runs, but 10-13 otherwise.
At the plate, William Glover was incredible, going 2-for-3 with five stolen bases, two RBI, and one run. Legacy is undefeated when Glover posts two or more stolen bases, but 10-14 otherwise. Kyler Avila was another key player, going 1-for-2 with two runs, two RBI, and one double.
Legacy is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games. That's provided a massive bump to their 14-14 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.3 runs over those games. As for Bonanza, they pushed their record up to 14-18 with the victory, which was their third straight at home.
