The Palo Verde Panthers will face off against the Centennial Bulldogs at 12:30 p.m. on Friday. Palo Verde will come into the match with an undefeated record on the line.
Palo Verde is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. Everything went their way against Reed as they made off with a 10-1 victory. The Panthers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 12 games by six runs or more this season.
Ava Koenig
| 05/15/25 vs Reed | 9 |
| 05/10/25 vs Centennial | 9 |
| 05/08/25 vs Centennial | 9 |
| 05/07/25 vs Bishop Gorman | 8 |
| 05/06/25 vs Silverado | 5 |
Ava Koenig spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered a run (which was unearned) on one hit and racked up nine Ks. She has been consistent: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in five consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Mya Bartlett was incredible, going 2-for-4 with one home run and five RBI. That's the most RBI she has posted since back in March of 2024. Alexis Kearnes also deserves some recognition as she hit her first triple of the season.
Palo Verde was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .379. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Reed only posted a batting average of .045.
Meanwhile, Centennial faced Spanish Springs in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Thursday. The Bulldogs were the clear victors by a 9-3 margin over the Cougars.
Centennial also let their pitcher toss all seven innings and she was also dialed-in: Lily Fournier gave up three runs (all of which were unearned) on seven hits and racked up 11 Ks.
On the hitting side, Centennial let Leeah Ibarra and Sloane Merrell run wild. Ibarra went 2-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and one double, while Merrell went a perfect 4-for-4 with two RBI and one run. The team also got some help courtesy of Abigail Estrada, who went 2-for-4 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
Centennial has been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 19-13 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.7 runs on average over those games. As for Palo Verde, their record now sits at 23-0.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. Palo Verde hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 1.2 home runs per game. However, it's not like Centennial struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.4 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Palo Verde came out on top in a nail-biter against Centennial in their previous meeting on Saturday, sneaking past 1-0. Will the Panthers repeat their success, or do the Bulldogs have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
