For the first time this season, Poly will have a chance to prove themselves in a conference matchup. They will take on the Valley View Eagles at 3:15 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Poly 2.5, Valley View 1.4) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Poly is probably headed into the contest with a chip on their shoulder considering Shadow Hills just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Monday. They fell just short of the Knights by a score of 2-0. The shutout was out of character for the Bears seeing as the last time the team failed to score was back in February.
Madyson Granillo spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just two earned runs on five hits. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Poly saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Honesty Romero, who went 1-for-3 with one double.
Meanwhile, Valley View had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 5.8 runs) and they went ahead and made it six on Monday. They never let the Tigers get on the board and left with a 13-0 win. The Eagles might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won eight games by seven runs or more this season.
Valley View also got a great performance from Giselle Morales as she didn't allow a single earned run over five innings pitched.
On the hitting side, Valley View let Destiny Mendoza and Alyssa Torres run wild. Mendoza went 2-for-3 with three runs, three RBI, and one triple, while Torres got on base in three of her four plate appearances with one home run and four RBI. That's the most RBI Torres has posted since back in February. Another player making a difference was Ailiyiah Picazzo, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-2.
Valley View always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .667. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Valley View pushed their record up to 13-2 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.0 runs over those games. As for Poly, their defeat dropped their record down to 14-4-1.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. Poly hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 1.1 home runs per game. However, it's not like Valley View struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 2 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Poly couldn't quite finish off Valley View in their previous matchup back in April of 2024 and fell 4-2. Can Poly avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
