It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Valley Christian had no problem doing just that on Tuesday. They came out on top against the Shadow Hills Knights by a score of 8-5. That's two games straight that Valley Christian has won by exactly three runs.
Rachel Zhang made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she struck out ten batters over eight innings while giving up four earned (and one unearned) runs off six hits. Zhang has been consistent recently: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in three consecutive pitching appearances. Zhang was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while going 3-for-4.
In other batting news, Britton Brown and Kayla Martin did most of the damage at the plate: Brown got on base in three of her five plate appearances with two runs, a triple, and a stolen base, while Martin scored a run while going 2-for-4. Peyton Kingery was another key contributor, getting on base in three of her five plate appearances with a triple and a run.
On Shadow Hills' side, Ava Valenzuela spent all eight innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered five earned (and three unearned) runs on ten hits and racked up seven Ks.
On the hitting side, Jayla Brown was cooking despite her team's loss, scoring a run while getting on base in four of her five plate appearances. The team also got some help courtesy of Samantha Beltran, who scored two runs while getting on base in three of her five plate appearances.
The victory made it two in a row for Valley Christian and bumps their season record up to 15-6. As for Shadow Hills, their defeat dropped their record down to 20-5.
Valley Christian will look to defend their home field on Thursday against Providence at 3:15 p.m. The pair have allowed few runs on average, (Providence: 1.8, Valley Christian: 3.5) so any runs scored will be well earned. Shadow Hills does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
