The Las Vegas Wildcats will face off against the Sierra Vista Mountain Lions at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Las Vegas has six straight victories, Sierra Vista has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Las Vegas is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Nevada's top teams: Desert Oasis, who was ranked third at the time (Las Vegas was ranked first). Las Vegas skirted past Desert Oasis 5-3. Five seems to be a good number for the Wildcats as the team scooped up a win with the same number of runs in their previous game.
MICKEY MARTINEZ was a major factor no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out six batters over 6.2 innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off six hits (and only one walk). MARTINEZ was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-3. That stolen base was his first of the season.
MARTINEZ wasn't the only one making solid contact as five players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was JOSEPH PONTICELLO, who scored a run while going 1-for-4. PONTICELLO also put up a double, which was his first of the season.
Meanwhile, Sierra Vista came up short against Spring Valley on Wednesday and fell 6-1.
Las Vegas pushed their record up to 6-0 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home dating back to last season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.3 runs over those games. As for Sierra Vista, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-5.
Sierra Vista's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Saturday. Las Vegas has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Sierra Vista, though, as they've been averaging only 4 strikeouts. Will Las Vegas keep running through batters, or will Sierra Vista buck the trend?
Las Vegas came out on top in a nail-biter against Sierra Vista in their previous meeting back in March of 2024, sneaking past 1-0. Does Las Vegas have another victory up their sleeve, or will Sierra Vista turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
