Needles never let their opponents score on Friday. They blew past the Awaken Christian Lions 16-0. The victory continues a trend for the Mustangs in their matchups with the Lions: they've now won nine in a row.
Hudson Smith made a splash no matter where he played. On the mound, he tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Needles is undefeated when he allows at most two earned runs, but 3-5-1 otherwise. Smith was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. What's more, he posted two hits, the most he's had since back in May of 2024.
Holden Jones
| 03/21/25 @ Awaken Christian | 4 |
| 05/18/24 vs Lake Mead Christian Academy | 3 |
| 03/08/25 @ Chinle | 2 |
| 03/07/25 @ Mohave | 2 |
| 03/06/25 @ North Valley Christian Academy | 2 |
In other batting news, Holden Jones was incredible, going 1-for-2 with four RBI, one stolen base, and one run. Those four RBI gave him a new career-high. Robert Tapia was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 2-for-3.
Needles pushed their record up to 6-5-1 with the win, which was their fourth straight on the road. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to hits: they averaged an imposing nine hits in those games compared to only 5.5 in the others. As for Awaken Christian, their defeat was their first of the season and makes their record 4-1.
The teams didn't have to wait long for a rematch: Needles beat Awaken Christian by a score of 14-1 later that day.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
