The Benicia Panthers will head out on the road to square off against the Amador Valley Dons at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Amador Valley is hoping to do on Saturday what Alhambra couldn't on Thursday: put an end to Benicia's winning streak, which now stands at three games. Everything went Benicia's way against Alhambra as Benicia made off with a 9-1 victory.
Sinead Maas spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned run on four hits and racked up 11 Ks. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Benicia let Aryanna Banks-Lockhart and Ava Rojas loose on the outfield. Banks-Lockhart fired off two home runs, four RBI, and a double while going 3-for-4, while Rojas scored two runs and stole three bases while going 2-for-3. Vanessa Smith was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Amador Valley scored the most runs they've had all season to find success on Thursday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Dougherty Valley a 14-0 shutout. Winning may never get old, but Amador Valley sure is getting used to it with their fourth in a row.
Kaylee Davis was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out nine over five innings pitched. Davis was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with three stolen bases, two runs, and a triple.
In other batting news, McKenna Charbonneau was a standout: she got on base in all four of her plate appearances with three RBI. Another player making a difference was Mai Falcone, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3.
Benicia's win was their eighth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 11-1. As for Amador Valley, they have been performing well recently as they've won six of their last eight matches, which provided a nice bump to their 10-5 record this season.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Saturday. Benicia hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.9 home runs per game. However, it's not like Amador Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.5. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Benicia came out on top in a nail-biter against Amador Valley in their previous meeting back in April of 2023, sneaking past 2-0. Does Benicia have another victory up their sleeve, or will Amador Valley turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
