The North Mustangs will head out on the road to challenge the Paradise Valley Trojans at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday. Paradise Valley took a loss in their last match and will be looking to turn the tables on North, who comes in off a win.
If North beats Paradise Valley with 15 runs on Thursday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two games with that exact score. Everything went North's way against Carl Hayden Community on Thursday as North made off with a 15-5 win. The Mustangs might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five contests by ten runs or more this season.
Solis Coker spent all six innings played on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and three unearned) runs on two hits and racked up ten Ks. She has been consistent : she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in seven consecutive appearances.
Ariana Velasquez
| 03/27/25 vs Carl Hayden Community | 3 |
| 03/25/25 @ Carl Hayden Community | 2 |
| 03/21/25 vs Central | 1 |
| 03/18/25 vs Metro Tech | 1 |
| 02/28/25 vs Douglas | 1 |
At the plate, North got a massive performance out of Ariana Velasquez, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one triple. Those three hits gave Velasquez a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Natalie Figueroa, who went 3-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and one triple.
Velasquez wasn't the only one working in the hit department: North kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. That's a new trend for North: they were averaging 4.8 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 matchups they've averaged 10.2.
Meanwhile, Paradise Valley was not able to break out of their rough patch on Monday as the team picked up their eighth straight defeat. They came up short against Buckeye, falling 15-0. Having soared to a lofty ten runs in the game before, the Trojans' shutout was a dramatic turnaround.
Paradise Valley saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Aliyah Anderson, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with one double. That hit marked the first that Anderson got this season.
The victory made it two in a row for North and bumps their season record up to 6-8. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 15.0 runs over those games. As for Paradise Valley, their loss dropped their record down to 0-8.
Paradise Valley's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: North hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .363. It's a different story for Paradise Valley, though, as they've only averaged .151. Will they be able to contain North's hitters? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
