For the first time this season, Higley will have a chance to prove themselves in a conference matchup. They will look to defend their home field on Tuesday against the Queen Creek Bulldogs at 3:45 p.m. Higley's pitching crew has only allowed 3.4 runs per game this season, so Queen Creek's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Higley was handed a heart-breaking two-run loss in their last game, but they sure didn't let that happen against Wellington on Saturday. Higley blew past Wellington 12-2. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Knights considering their two-run performance the match before.
Fernando Alonzo looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run over four innings pitched. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (four).
At the plate, Jordan Heraldez was a standout: he scored three runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-4. That's the most stolen bases he has posted over his last 12 contests. Another player making a difference was Jack Babcock, who went 2-for-3 with one triple, two RBI, and one run.
Higley always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .559. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, Queen Creek faced Perry in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Thursday. Queen Creek came up short against Perry, falling 16-6. The Bulldogs' defeat signaled the end of their five-game winning streak.
Jet Berry was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring a run while going 3-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Tait Reynolds, who scored two runs while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.
Higley is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games. That's provided a nice bump to their 9-5 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.3 runs on average over those games. Queen Creek's loss dropped their record down to 6-2.
Higley couldn't quite get it done against Queen Creek in their previous meeting back in February of 2022 as they fell 10-6. Can Higley avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
