It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Shadow Hills can now relate to. They fell 8-5 to the Valley Christian Defenders on Tuesday. Shadow Hills' defeat signaled the end of their eight-game winning streak.
Ava Valenzuela spent all eight innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered five earned (and three unearned) runs on ten hits and racked up seven Ks. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in eight consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Jayla Brown was cooking despite her team's loss, scoring a run while getting on base in four of her five plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Samantha Beltran, who scored two runs while getting on base in three of her five plate appearances.
On Valley Christian's side, Rachel Zhang was a major factor no matter where she played. She struck out ten batters over eight innings while giving up four earned (and one unearned) runs off six hits. Zhang was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while going 3-for-4.
In other batting news, Valley Christian let Britton Brown and Kayla Martin loose on the outfield. Brown got on base in three of her five plate appearances with two runs, a triple, and a stolen base, while Martin scored a run while going 2-for-4. The team also got some help courtesy of Bella Bulthuis, who scored a run while going 2-for-4.
Shadow Hills' loss dropped their record down to 20-5. As for Valley Christian, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 15-6 record this season.
Shadow Hills does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Valley Christian, they will be playing at home against Providence at 3:15 p.m. on Thursday. Providence is coming into the match with five straight wins on the road, so Valley Christian will have to stop a squad with plenty of momentum.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
