The Heritage Eagles will take on the Ponderosa Mustangs at 4:15 p.m. on Friday. Heritage is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.6 runs per game this season.
The home team had won the previous three meetings between Heritage and Highlands Ranch, and Highlands Ranch kept the tradition alive. The Eagles fell just short of the Falcons by a score of 8-7 on Wednesday.
Jaden McKinney was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he pitched six innings while giving up three earned (and two unearned) runs off eight hits.
James Kellogg
| 04/28/25 vs Legend | 5 |
| 04/30/25 @ Highlands Ranch | 3 |
| 04/09/25 vs Valor Christian | 3 |
| 04/02/25 vs Cherokee Trail | 1 |
| 03/24/25 @ Lakeridge | 1 |
On the hitting side, James Kellogg made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went a perfect 2-for-2 with three RBI and two doubles. He is becoming a predictor of Heritage's success: when he posts at least three RBI the team is 2-1 (and 4-13 when he doesn't). Bode Shoen was another key player, going 1-for-4 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one double.
Meanwhile, Ponderosa faced Mountain Vista in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Thursday. The Mustangs had just enough and edged out the Golden Eagles 6-4.
Ponderosa's win was truly a team effort as six different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Brody Olson, who went 1-for-3 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
Ponderosa is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last ten games. That's provided a nice bump to their 13-6 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.7 runs over those games. As for Heritage, they dropped their record down to 6-14 with the defeat, which was their fifth straight on the road.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. Heritage hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.6 home runs per game. However, it's not like Ponderosa struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.4 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Heritage took their win against Ponderosa when the teams last played back in April of 2024 by a conclusive 11-3 score. Will the Eagles repeat their success, or do the Mustangs have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
