The Niwot Cougars will square off against the Higley Knights at 12:00 p.m. on Friday. Niwot has given up an average of 7.6 runs per game this season, so hopefully the team got some pitching drills in this week.
Niwot's tournament run continued when they took on Arizona College Prep on Thursday. Niwot lost 13-4 to Arizona College Prep. The match marked the Cougars' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.
Niwot saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jagger Kilpatrick, who scored a run while going 1-for-2.
Meanwhile, Higley had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 4.5 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Thursday. They walked away with a 4-1 victory over the Eagles.
Bryce Russo spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on two hits and racked up seven Ks. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in strikeouts.
At the plate, Cam Jantz was excellent, going 1-for-3 with one home run. Another player making a difference was Gio Garcia, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances.
Higley pushed their record up to 7-4 with the win, which was their third straight at home. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.7 runs over those games. As for Niwot, their loss dropped their record down to 3-2.
Niwot's speedy runners might be the difference in Friday's game. Niwot has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 4 stolen bases per game. It's a different story for Higley, though, as they've been averaging only 0.5 stolen bases. Will they be able to secure the bases, or will Niwot continue to outrun the ball? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps