The Willow Canyon Wildcats will take on the Desert Mountain Wolves at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Willow Canyon sitting on six straight victories and Desert Mountain on 15.
Willow Canyon's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. They blew past Kellis 15-0. The result was nothing new for the Wildcats, who have now won nine games by eight runs or more so far this season.
Lucy Burroughs was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits over four innings pitched. Burroughs was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 3-for-4.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Mataya Olson, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-2. Another player making a difference was Lailia Marrero, who scored a run while going 2-for-2.
Willow Canyon always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .667. The last time their OBP was this high was back in April of 2024.
Meanwhile, Desert Mountain earned a 3-0 win over Chaparral on Wednesday.
Like Willow Canyon, Desert Mountain also got a great game from a two-way player: Lilly 'Goose' Goodwin. She tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Goodwin has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two walks in 14 consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going a perfect 2-for-2 with two RBI.
In other batting news, Avery Gehrke was excellent, scoring two runs while going 2-for-2.
Willow Canyon's victory was their 19th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 13-6-1. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.1 runs on average over those games. As for Desert Mountain, their record now sits at 18-1-1.
Thursday's contest might come down to which pitcher can control the ball better. Willow Canyon has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .434. However, it's not like Desert Mountain struggles in that department as they've averaged .444. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Willow Canyon might still be hurting after the 8-0 defeat they got from Desert Mountain when the teams last played back in March. Can the Wildcats avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
