The Perry Pumas will take on the O'Connor Eagles at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Perry has four straight wins, O'Connor has four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Perry is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Arizona's top teams: Hamilton, who was ranked 20th at the time (Perry was ranked 14th). The Pumas beat the Huskies on Tuesday by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 5-4. The game was the first time the Pumas have beaten the Huskies on their field since April 10, 2023.
Brynlee Brassfield spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered four earned runs on six hits and racked up nine Ks.
At the plate, Braylee Harder was incredible, going 3-for-4 with one home run, four RBI, and one double. The team also got some help courtesy of Ashlin Miller, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base and one run.
They weren't the only ones making solid contact: Perry kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. They are a perfect 9-0 when they post 11 or more hits.
Meanwhile, O'Connor came up short against Pinnacle on Tuesday and fell 6-1.
O'Connor also let their pitcher toss all seven innings and she was also dialed-in: Maci Jones gave up three earned (and three unearned) runs on eight hits and racked up eight Ks.
On the hitting side, Sydnee Williams made the most of her time in the batter's box despite the final result and went 2-for-3 with one home run.
O'Connor's loss dropped their record down to 9-9. As for Perry, the victory was their first on the road, bumping their record up to 11-7.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. Perry hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 1.2 home runs per game. However, it's not like O'Connor struggles in that department as they've been averaging 1.1 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Perry beat O'Connor 5-2 in their previous meeting back in February. Will the Pumas repeat their success, or do the Eagles have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
