Cienega was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their third straight loss. Their rough 9-3 defeat to the Nogales Apaches might stick with them for a while. The result was an unpleasant reminder to Cienega of the 10-0 loss they experienced in the pair's previous head-to-head fixture back in April of 2023.
Cienega 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).
At the plate, 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.
On Nogales' side, they got a great performance from Sal Valenzuela as he didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out 13 over five innings pitched. Valenzuela has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in four consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Alan Durazo was incredible, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 3-for-4. Denzel Montijo was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-4.
Cienega's defeat dropped their record down to 14-8. As for Nogales, the win was the fourth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 8-6.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Cienega will challenge Sahuaro at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. As for Nogales, they will head out on the road to face off against Salpointe Catholic at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Salpointe Catholic is coming into the game with three straight victories at home, so Nogales will have to stop a squad with plenty of momentum.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
