Mountain Ridge hasn't had much luck against Pinnacle recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Mountain Lions will face off against the Pioneers at 3:45 p.m. Mountain Ridge is coming into the game hot, having won their last six games.
Mountain Ridge is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Arizona's top teams: Boulder Creek, who was ranked 12th at the time (Mountain Ridge was ranked 13th). The Mountain Lions skirted past the Jaguars 6-4. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Mountain Lions have posted since March 1st.
Gianna Torres made a splash no matter where she played. She didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out nine over four innings pitched. She has been consistent : she hasn't given up more than one earned run in five consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.
Torres wasn't the only one making solid contact as seven players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Daisy Herrera, who scored a run while going 1-for-2.
Mountain Ridge was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .375. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .333 or higher in five consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Pinnacle earned a 14-10 win over O'Connor on Tuesday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Pioneers.
The team relied heavily on Payton Crank, who fired off two home runs and four runs while getting on base in all five of her plate appearances. That's the most home runs she has posted since back in April of 2024. Another player making a difference was Sienna Caro, who scored three runs while getting on base in three of her five plate appearances.
Mountain Ridge pushed their record up to 12-3 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. The team dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 6.5 runs. As for Pinnacle, their record is now 7-5-1.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. Mountain Ridge hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.5 home runs per game. However, it's not like Pinnacle 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.
Mountain Ridge might still be hurting after the 8-2 loss they got from Pinnacle when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Can the Mountain Lions avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
