The Cibola Raiders will venture away from home to take on the Desert Vista Thunder at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday. Cibola's pitching crew has only allowed 3.8 runs per game this season, so Desert Vista's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Cibola barely beat Boulder Creek the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. Everything went Cibola's way against Boulder Creek on Tuesday as Cibola made off with a 7-1 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Raiders.
Rodrigo Orozco Araiza was a major factor no matter where he played. On the mound, he pitched six innings while giving up just one earned run off five hits. That's the fewest earned runs he has allowed since back in March of 2024. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with one double and one RBI. That's the most hits he has posted since back in March of 2024.
In other batting news, Jordan Schofield was excellent, scoring a run while going 2-for-4. Another player making a difference was Aidan Robles, who scored two runs and stole Two bases. while going 1-for-3.
Cibola always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .576. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, while Desert Vista put up some runs on Monday, the same can't be said for Chandler. Desert Vista came out on top against Chandler by a score of 3-0.
Brock MacDonald tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run while striking out eight over six innings pitched.
On the hitting side, Desert Vista's victory was truly a team effort as two different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Noah Gutierrez, who scored a run and stole Two bases. while going 1-for-3. Anthony Renda also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.
Cibola pushed their record up to 3-1 with the win, which was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.9 runs on average over those games. As for Desert Vista, their record is now 4-1.
Cibola came up short against Desert Vista in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, falling 4-1. Can Cibola avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
