The Snowflake Lobos will square off against the Chinle Wildcats at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Snowflake has four straight wins, Chinle has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Snowflake is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. Everything went their way against St. Johns on Thursday as Snowflake made off with a 20-8 victory. The result was nothing new for the Lobos, who have now won four contests by ten runs or more so far this season.
Skip Bawden made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing 1.2 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. That's the fewest hits he has allowed since back in March of 2024. He was even better at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing Two bases. while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last four times he's played.
Jaxon Merrill
| 03/20/25 vs St. Johns | 3 |
| 03/18/25 @ Page | 1 |
| 02/27/25 vs Benjamin Franklin | 1 |
| 03/25/24 vs Page | 1 |
In other batting news, Snowflake got a massive performance out of Jaxon Merrill, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 3-for-3. Those three runs gave Merrill a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Kenyan Bryant, who scored three runs while going 2-for-3.
Snowflake was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .571. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .308 or higher in three consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Chinle duked it out with Show Low on Thursday. Chinle fell 8-4 to Show Low.
Mackaden Arthur was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring two runs and stealing a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. He is becoming a predictor of Chinle's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 4-1 (and 1-5 when he doesn't).
Snowflake's win bumped their record up to 6-1. As for Chinle, they now have a losing record of 5-6.
Saturday's game will be a test for both teams' pitchers. Snowflake hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .400. However, it's not like Chinle struggles in that department as they've averaged .345. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Everything went Snowflake's way against Chinle in their previous matchup back in March of 2022, as Snowflake made off with a 15-4 victory. Will Snowflake repeat their success, or does Chinle have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
