The Round Valley Elks will venture away from home to take on the Benson Bobcats at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday. One thing working in Round Valley's favor is that they have posted at least ten runs in their last five matchups.
Round Valley proved they can win big on Wednesday (they won by 23) and on Friday they proved they can win the close ones too. They skirted past Page 12-11. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Elks have posted since March 8th.
Carla Arreola
| 04/18/25 vs Page | 5 |
| 04/16/25 @ Many Farms | 8 |
| 04/14/25 vs Winslow | 7 |
| 04/12/25 vs Phoenix Christian | 10 |
| 04/09/25 vs Hopi | 8 |
| + 2 more games |
Carla Arreola made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She pitched seven innings while giving up just one earned (and ten unearned) runs off 11 hits. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in seven consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going 1-for-4 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
In other batting news, Kelci Walker was incredible, getting on base in all five of her plate appearances with one home run, four runs, and four RBI. With that strong performance, she is now averaging an impressive 2 runs per game. Another player making a difference was Ruth Wiltbank, who went 3-for-4 with two RBI and one run.
Round Valley kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 13 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least 13 hits in five consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Benson took on Morenci on Tuesday. The Bobcats lost 21-8 to the Wildcats. The defeat continues a trend for the Bobcats in their meetings with the Wildcats: they've now lost three in a row.
Karris Taylor and Natalia Guzman did some serious damage despite the final result: Taylor went 2-for-3 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI, while Guzman went 2-for-3 with one home run and three RBI. Akota Abbott was another key player, going 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI.
Round Valley is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight games. That's provided a nice bump to their 14-6 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.6 runs on average over those games. As for Benson, they now have a losing record of 12-13.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Wednesday. Round Valley 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 Benson struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.8 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Round Valley came out on top in a nail-biter against Benson in their previous matchup back in March, sneaking past 10-9. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Elks since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
