On Friday, Sabino faced Marana in a battle between two of the state's top teams. The Sabino Sabercats blew past the Marana Tigers 18-4. Sabino's victory was all the more impressive since Marana was averaging only 3.67 runs allowed on the season.
Avery Nielson made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and only two hits while striking out ten over five innings pitched. Nielson has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in five consecutive pitching appearances. Nielson was also big at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a home run, six RBI, and two doubles.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Lilly Mann, who went 4-for-5 with a home run, five RBI, and three runs. Renee Williams was another key contributor, scoring three runs while going 3-for-4.
On Marana's side, they saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Brianna Higuera, who scored a run while going 1-for-1.
Sabino is on a roll lately: they've won 12 of their last 13 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 17-4 record this season. As for Marana, their defeat ended a five-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 18-6.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Sabino will take on Valley Christian at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams will come into the match having just posted big wins, so someone is set to suffer a big change in fortunes. As for Marana, they will look to defend their home field on Monday against Rincon/University at 3:45 p.m. Rincon/University is coming into the matchup with four straight losses on the road, meaning Marana will have to defend against a team hungry for a win.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
