The Coronado Dons will square off against the Desert Sunrise Golden Hawks at 3:45 p.m. on Monday. Coronado has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the matchup with seven straight losses, while Desert Sunrise will come in with five straight wins.
Coronado made up a huge gap compared to their last game against Dysart, but they still couldn't quite topple them. The Dons fell just short of the Demons by a score of 6-4 on Thursday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest defeat the Dons have suffered since April 9, 2024.
Alexander Bustamante put in work no matter where he played. On the mound, he tossed six innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off three hits. Bustamante was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
Bustamante wasn't the only one making solid contact as six players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Naem Pacheco, who went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases.
Meanwhile, while Desert Sunrise put up plenty of runs on Thursday, the same can't be said for Tempe. The Golden Hawks put the hurt on the Buffaloes with a sharp 15-0 victory. Considering the Golden Hawks have won five contests by more than nine runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Like Coronado, Desert Sunrise also got a great game from a two-way player: Leander Vale. He didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits over five innings pitched. Desert Sunrise is undefeated when Vale allows two or fewer hits, but 4-5-1 otherwise. Vale was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in two of his four plate appearances with three stolen bases and one RBI. Those three stolen bases gave him a new career-high.
In other batting news, Jacoby Garcia and Brayden Tracy did most of the damage at the plate: Garcia got on base in three of his four plate appearances with four runs, one stolen base, and one double, while Tracy went 2-for-3 with two runs, two RBI, and one double. Garcia has become a key player for Desert Sunrise: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 3-5-1 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Ivan Zamoran, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with one triple, two RBI, and one run.
Desert Sunrise hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team has now struck out at least five batters in seven consecutive games.
Desert Sunrise pushed their record up to 7-5-1 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Coronado, their loss dropped their record down to 1-15.
Monday's match might come down to which pitcher can control the ball better. Coronado has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .443. However, it's not like Desert Sunrise struggles in that department as they've averaged .472. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.
