The Chino Valley Cougars will face off against the Shadow Mountain Matadors at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
While Cougars fans will have to keep waiting for their team to come home, they shouldn't be too worried about the road trip considering the result of Wednesday's season opener. They had just enough and edged out Arizona Lutheran Academy 5-4.
Freddie Garcia made a splash while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching five innings while giving up three earned runs off five hits. Garcia was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing three bases while going 2-for-3.
In other batting news, Ryan Lamotte was excellent, scoring a run while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Shadow Mountain can bid farewell to their six-game losing streak dating back to last season thanks to their game on Thursday. Everything went their way against Cortez as Shadow Mountain made off with a 30-3 victory. The high-scoring effort was just what the Matadors needed considering they were shutout in their previous game.
Jack Zauner was a standout: he scored three runs while getting on base in five of his six plate appearances. What's more, he posted three hits, the most he's had since back in April of 2024. Another player making a difference was Andy Chaplick, who scored two runs while going 3-for-4.
Shadow Mountain always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .660. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Cortez only posted an OBP of .476.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
