Queen Creek is a perfect 6-0 against Gilbert since March of 2016 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Tuesday. The Bulldogs will host the Tigers at 3:45 p.m. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Queen Creek sitting on five straight victories and Gilbert on three.
Queen Creek's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They walked away with a 5-0 win over Highland.
Aubrey Chavez
| 04/03/25 vs Highland | 9 |
| 04/01/25 @ Highland | 12 |
| 03/28/25 @ Perry | 7 |
| 03/25/25 vs Higley | 14 |
Not much got past Aubrey Chavez, who gave up just two hits and racked up nine Ks to keep Highland off the board. Chavez has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in four consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Alessia Velazquez was incredible, going 2-for-3 with one home run and three RBI. She is on a roll when it comes to home runs, as she's now launched at least one in each of the last three games she's played. Another player making a difference was Kayla Porter, who went 1-for-3 with one home run.
Velazquez wasn't the only one working in the home run department: Queen Creek lost a few balls and finished the game with two home runs. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now launched at least two home runs in five consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Gilbert). Everything went their way against Williams Field on Thursday as they made off with a 20-2 victory. Considering the Tigers have won five games by more than nine runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Tyler Gordanier made a splash no matter where she played. She pitched four innings while giving up just two earned runs off five hits. Gordanier was also big at the plate, scoring a run while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances.
In other batting news, Gilbert got a massive performance out of Hayley Joiner, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with six RBI, two runs, and one double. Those six RBI gave Joiner a new career-high. Arianna Leon was another key player, scoring four runs while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances.
Queen Creek's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-5. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Gilbert, their win bumped their record up to 7-8.
Gilbert's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Tuesday. Queen Creek has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.6 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Gilbert, though, as they've been averaging only 3.5 strikeouts. Will Queen Creek keep running through batters, or will the Tigers buck the trend?
Queen Creek was able to grind out a solid victory over Gilbert in their previous matchup back in April of 2024, winning 4-0. Will the Bulldogs repeat their success, or do the Tigers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
