The Valley Vikings will face off against the Cibola Cougars at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Valley has given up an average of 6.8 runs per game this season, but Thursday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.
Valley is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of New Mexico's top teams: Sandia, who was ranked second at the time (Valley was ranked 19th). Valley came up short against Sandia on Tuesday, falling 17-3. The Vikings haven't had much luck with the Matadors recently, as the team has come up short the last five times they've met.
Anthony Chavez
| 03/25/25 @ Sandia | 1 |
| 03/12/25 vs Atrisco Heritage Academy | 1 |
| 03/11/25 vs St. Pius X | 1 |
Anthony Chavez was cooking despite his team's loss, going 1-for-2 with one home run. Valley is 2-1 when Chavez posts one or more home runs, but 4-7 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Elias Saiz, who scored two runs while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Cibola). They blew past Del Norte 17-7 on Tuesday. Considering the Cougars have won seven matches by more than five runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Aiden Harrison looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out 11 over four innings pitched. Those 11 strikeouts gave him a new career-high.
On the hitting side, Cibola let Derrick Chee and Elijah Vigil run wild. Chee scored four runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4, while Vigil fired off two home runs and three RBI while going 2-for-3. Those two hits gave Vigil a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Daniel Kean, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with three RBI and one double.
Cibola was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .519. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their batting average total in three consecutive contests.
Cibola's victory was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 11-3. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.5 runs on average over those games. As for Valley, their loss dropped their record down to 6-8.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. Valley hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.5 home runs per game. However, it's not like Cibola struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.6 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Valley came up short against Cibola in their previous meeting back in March of 2024, falling 12-9. Will Valley have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
