The Los Lunas Tigers are taking a road trip to square off against the Atrisco Heritage Academy Jaguars at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Atrisco Heritage Academy will take on a team with plenty of momentum: Los Lunas extended their winning streak to four on Tuesday. Everything went the Tigers' way against West Mesa as they made off with an 8-2 win.
Natalie Madrid was a major factor no matter where she played. She tossed six innings while giving up just two earned runs off nine hits. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than one walk in seven consecutive appearances. She was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with one triple, one stolen base, and one run.
In other batting news, Haidyn Garley and Jaslene Duran did most of the damage at the plate: Garley got on base in all three of her plate appearances with two RBI and one double, while Duran went 2-for-3 with two runs, one double, and one RBI. Another player making a difference was Aaliyah Vigil, who went 1-for-3 with two RBI, one run, and one double.
Los Lunas was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .400. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .323 or higher in eight consecutive games.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Atrisco Heritage Academy). Everything went their way against Highland on Monday as they made off with a 23-1 victory. The win continues a trend for the Jaguars in their matchups with the Hornets: they've now won nine in a row.
Like Los Lunas, Atrisco Heritage Academy also got a great game from a two-way player: Ariana Lara. On the mound, she tossed two innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit. The dominant performance also gave Lara a new career-high in strikeouts (two). She was also big at the plate, going a perfect 2-for-2 with two RBI.
In other batting news, Larissa Morinia was a standout: she got on base in three of her four plate appearances with four runs, two stolen bases, and one triple. That's the most stolen bases she has posted since back in March. Larissa Valles also deserves some recognition as she scored her first run of the season.
Atrisco Heritage Academy's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 16-5. The home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.7 runs over those games. As for Los Lunas, their record is now 15-6.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Wednesday. Los Lunas hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 1 home runs per game. However, it's not like Atrisco Heritage Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 1 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Los Lunas couldn't quite finish off Atrisco Heritage Academy in their previous meeting on April 1st and fell 6-4. Can the Tigers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
