The Saguaro Sabercats will square off against the Perry Pumas at 3:45 p.m. on Friday. Perry took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Saguaro, who comes in off a win.
Saguaro had to skate by with only a one-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the ten-run drubbing they dealt Tonopah Valley on Wednesday. Saguaro never let Tonopah Valley get on the board and left with a 10-0 victory. That looming 10-0 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for the Sabercats yet this season.
Max Jelinek looked comfortable as he pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-low in earned runs (zero).
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Kingston Sinner, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-1. Another player making a difference was Zander Bratspis, who scored two runs while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Perry faced Liberty in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Thursday. Perry fell 12-9 to Liberty. The Pumas' loss signaled the end of their five-game winning streak.
Perry also got a good showing from Dillon Mendoza, who tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits.
At the plate, Luke Calendo made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 3-for-4 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. He also put up a triple, which was his first of the season. Andrew Hover was another key player, going 3-for-4 with one triple, one run, and one RBI.
Even though they lost, Perry was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .484. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .310 or higher in three consecutive games.
Having lost for the first time this season, Perry fell to 5-1. As for Saguaro, they now have a winning record of 3-2-1.
Saguaro couldn't quite finish off Perry in their previous meeting back in February of 2022 and fell 3-1. Can Saguaro avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
