Baseball Game Preview: Pine View Panthers vs. Desert Hills Thunder

For the second straight game, Pine View will face off against Desert Hills. Pine View will be playing at home against Desert Hills at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Pine View 4, Desert Hills 3.9) so any runs scored will be well earned.

Pine View is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Utah's top teams: Desert Hills, who was ranked second at the time (Pine View was ranked 19th). Pine View lost 12-2 to Desert Hills on Wednesday. The pitching woes were uncharacteristic for the Panthers, who until this match were averaging four runs allowed.

For Desert Hills' part, Jaxton Tolman made a splash while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching six innings while giving up just two earned runs off six hits. Tolman has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with one RBI.

In other batting news, Jace Fillmore was incredible, scoring two runs while going 3-for-3. What's more, he posted two doubles, the most he's had since back in March of 2024. Crew Christensen was another key player, going 1-for-3 with one home run and two RBI.

Desert Hills was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .423. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .423 or higher in three consecutive games.

Desert Hills pushed their record up to 13-0 with the win, which was their 15th straight at home dating back to last season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.9 runs on average over those games. As for Pine View, their defeat dropped their record down to 9-3-1.

Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. Pine View hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.6 home runs per game. However, it's not like Desert Hills struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 1.2 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.