Chaparral came into this matchup off a tough eight-run loss on Friday. This time they kept things ultra-competitive, but unfortunately the final result was the same. They fell just short of the La Cueva Bears by a score of 9-7 on Saturday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest defeat the Firebirds have suffered since April 11, 2025.
Chaparral got a good showing from Will Gnirk, who struck out ten batters over four innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off two hits. That's the fewest hits Gnirk has allowed since back in April of 2025.
On the hitting side, Chase Solar made the most of his time in the batter's box despite the final result and went a perfect 3-for-3 with two stolen bases, two RBI, and one run. The team also got some help courtesy of Bo Shuba, who went 2-for-3 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
This is the second loss in a row for Chaparral and nudges their season record down to 7-5. Those losses can't be blamed on the team's hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.0 runs over those games. As for La Cueva, their win bumped their record up to 9-1.
Chaparral and La Cueva should be looking forward to their upcoming games as both have a sizable advantage in their respective state rankings. The Firebirds (ranked 20th) will meet Centennial (ranked 86th) at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Meanwhile, La Cueva will face off against Cibola at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday with a big rank advantage (5 vs. 25).
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
