The Empire Ravens will be playing in front of their home fans against the Willcox Cowboys at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Empire came up short against Thatcher and fell 4-1. Empire has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Ian Lemus put in work while hitting and pitching. He pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (he also only allowed one walk). Lemus has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive pitching appearances. Lemus was also big at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
In other pitching news, RJ Friend was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he struck out seven batters over five innings while giving up four earned runs off six hits.
Meanwhile, Willcox scored the most runs they've had all season to find success last Tuesday. They put the hurt on Santa Rita with a sharp 16-3 victory. The win was just what Willcox needed coming off of a 9-2 loss in their prior matchup.
Kaleb Cooke and Kash Macumber did most of the damage at the plate: Cooke scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances, while Macumber went 2-for-2 with a home run and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Jerry Reyes, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-1.
Empire's defeat dropped their record down to 8-12. As for Willcox, their victory bumped their record up to 7-8.
Empire took their win against Willcox in their previous matchup back in April of 2023 by a conclusive 15-1. Does Empire have another victory up their sleeve, or will Willcox turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
