Nogales entered their tilt with Cienega with three consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with four. They blew past the Cienega Bobcats 9-3. That's more bragging rights for Nogales, who also won the pair's last head-to-head.
Sal Valenzuela tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and only two hits while striking out 13 over five innings pitched. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in four consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Alan Durazo, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4. Another player making a difference was Denzel Montijo, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4.
On Cienega's side, they got a good showing from Preston Slanina, who tossed 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits (he also didn't allow any walks).
On the hitting side, Cienega saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Manny Bracamonte, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with a stolen base.
Nogales pushed their record up to 8-6 with that victory, which was their fourth straight at home. Those good results were due in large part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.0 runs per game. As for Cienega, they are on a three-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 14-8.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Nogales will face off against Salpointe Catholic at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Salpointe Catholic is strutting in with some hitting muscle, as they've averaged 7.9 runs per game this season. As for Cienega, they are on the road again on Monday to play Sahuaro at 4:00 p.m.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
