The Foothill Cougars will head out to square off against the Pleasant Valley Vikings at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Foothill sitting on five straight wins and Pleasant Valley on four.
Foothill's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They walked away with a 4-0 victory over Shasta.
Elisea Wiegand made a big impact no matter where she played. On the mound, she didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out 18 over seven innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than two walks in ten consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.
In other batting news, Taylor Bates was excellent, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.
Foothill hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team has now struck out at least two batters in three consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Pleasant Valley got the win against Red Bluff on Wednesday by a conclusive 9-1.
Like Foothill, Pleasant Valley also got a great game from a two-way player: Kodi Aisthorpe. She struck out nine batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned run off seven hits (and not a single walk). That's the most strikeouts Aisthorpe has posted since back in April of 2024. She was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.
Aisthorpe wasn't the only one making solid contact as seven players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Reese Brunemeyer, who went 1-for-3 with two RBI and one double.
Foothill's win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 12-3-1. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.6 runs on average over those games. As for Pleasant Valley, their record now sits at 9-5-1.
Pleasant Valley's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Foothill hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .328. It's a different story for Pleasant Valley, though, as they've only averaged .259. Will they be able to contain Foothill's hitters?
Foothill might still be hurting after the 8-1 defeat they got from Pleasant Valley in their previous meeting back in May of 2024. Can the Cougars avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
