The Damonte Ranch Mustangs will head out on the road to square off against the Galena Grizzlies at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Damonte Ranch will be hoping to continue their three-game streak of scoring more runs each match than the last.
Damonte Ranch took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They blew past Carson 10-3.
Damonte Ranch got a great performance from Mckenna Kiely as she tossed 6.2 innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off six hits. Kiely has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't pitched less than six innings in four consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Savanna Esqueda, who scored four runs and stole four bases while going 4-for-4. Another player making a difference was Olivia Mares, who scored two runs and stole four bases while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Galena was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They lost 9-1 to Bishop Manogue.
Galena saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jordan Gurney, who went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Even though they lost, Galena didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with seven strikeouts. This was only their 13th loss (out of 17 games) when they post five or more strikeouts.
Damonte Ranch's victory ended a four-game drought at home and bumped them up to 7-13-1. As for Galena, their loss dropped their record down to 6-21-1.
Damonte Ranch's speedy runners might be the difference in Saturday's game. Damonte Ranch has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.8 stolen bases per game. It's a different story for Galena, though, as they've been averaging only 0.5. Will they be able to secure the bases, or will Damonte Ranch continue to outrun the ball?
Damonte Ranch might still be hurting after the 19-4 defeat they got from Galena in their previous matchup back in May of 2023. Thankfully for Damonte Ranch, Shailey Chesney (who went 3-for-5 with a home run, five RBI, and two runs) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
