The Yuma Catholic Shamrocks will face off against the Chino Valley Cougars at 3:45 p.m. on Monday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Yuma Catholic's pitching crew heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. They blew past Tonopah Valley 15-0. Considering the Shamrocks have won 16 games by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Leonel Avelar was a standout: he went a perfect 3-for-3 with two stolen bases, three runs, and four RBI. Those two stolen bases gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Erik Topete, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with three runs, two doubles, and one stolen base.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Chino Valley). Everything went their way against Highland Prep on Thursday as they made off with a 19-0 win. The high-scoring effort was just what the Cougars needed considering they were shut out in their previous contest.
Milo Rocha and Caden Todd were major factors no matter where they played. Throwing, Rocha tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Meanwhile, Todd tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. He is becoming a predictor of Chino Valley's success: when he allows at most three hits the team is 2-1 (and 7-10-1 when he doesn't). At the plate, Rocha went a perfect 3-for-3 with two stolen bases, three runs, and one double, while Todd got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one run and one RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Freddie Garcia, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with three RBI, two runs, and one triple. He has become a key player for Chino Valley: the team is 4-2 when he posts at least two runs, but 5-9-1 otherwise. Luke Olson was another key player, going 1-for-2 with two stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI.
Chino Valley's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 9-11-1. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Yuma Catholic, their victory bumped their record up to 21-2.
Yuma Catholic took their win against Chino Valley in their previous matchup back in March of 2023 by a conclusive 18-0 score. Do the Shamrocks have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Cougars turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
