The Casa Grande Cougars will venture away from home to face off against the Willow Canyon Wildcats at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Casa Grande is coming into the contest hot, having won their last five games.
Casa Grande will bounce into Saturday's match after beating Mountain View, who they had gone 0-8 against in their eight prior meetings. The Cougars came out on top in a nail-biter against the Mountain Lions on Monday, sneaking past 7-5. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Cougars have posted since March 27th.
MacKayla Wallace
| 04/28/25 @ Mountain View | 5 |
| 04/24/25 vs Maricopa | 11 |
| 04/22/25 @ Maricopa | 5 |
MacKayla Wallace spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered three earned (and two unearned) runs on eight hits. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in three consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Alejandra Valencia Valenzuela, who went 2-for-4 with one home run, two RBI, and one double. That home run marked the first that she has launched this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Trinity Diaz, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Willow Canyon, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Friday. Everything went their way against Buckeye on Monday as they made off with a 12-4 victory. The result was nothing new for the Wildcats, who have now won 13 games by eight runs or more so far this season.
Lucy Burroughs and Easton Spriggs made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Burroughs pitched five innings while giving up four earned runs off four hits. Meanwhile, Spriggs pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. At the plate, Burroughs went 2-for-3 with four RBI, two runs, and one double, while Spriggs went 2-for-3 with two runs and one double.
In other batting news, Madison Jones was incredible, going 3-for-4 with three RBI, two doubles, and one stolen base. Those three hits gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Lailia Marrero, who went 2-for-4 with two runs, two RBI, and one double.
Willow Canyon was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .400. They are 15-2 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Willow Canyon has been performing well recently as they've won 11 of their last 14 contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 18-9-1 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.4 runs on average over those games. As for Casa Grande, they pushed their record up to 17-7 with the victory, which was their fourth straight on the road.
Saturday's matchup will be a test for both teams' pitchers. Casa Grande hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .380. However, it's not like Willow Canyon struggles in that department as they've averaged .358. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other softball content.
