For the second straight game, Centennial will face off against Las Cruces. The Hawks will head out to challenge the Bulldawgs at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Centennial has 26 straight victories, Las Cruces has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Centennial is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of New Mexico's top teams: Las Cruces, who was ranked eighth at the time (Centennial was ranked first). The Hawks' pitcher stepped up to hand the Bulldawgs a 7-0 shutout on Monday. The result was nothing new for the Hawks, who have now won 19 contests by six runs or more so far this season.
Not much got past Destiny Perez, who gave up just three hits to keep Las Cruces off the board. Perez has been consistent: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in five consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Aaliyah Betancourt was incredible, going 2-for-3 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Amanda Valles, who went 1-for-2 with one home run and two runs.
Centennial pushed their record up to 23-0 with the win, which was their 22nd straight at home dating back to last season. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.9 runs on average over those games. As for Las Cruces, their defeat dropped their record down to 16-7.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. Centennial hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 2 home runs per game. However, it's not like Las Cruces struggles in that department as they've been averaging 1.2 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other softball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
