Palm Desert is 2-8 against La Quinta since February of 2022 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Palm Desert Aztecs will head out on the road to face off against the La Quinta Blackhawks at 6:30 p.m. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Palm Desert sitting on three straight wins and La Quinta on six.
Palm Desert put the finishing touches on their ninth blowout victory of the season on Monday. Their pitchers stepped up to hand Xavier Prep a 9-0 shutout. Palm Desert's pitching crew has been rock solid lately; the team hasn't given up a run in their last three contests.
Alexandra Aguilar made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off three hits (she also only allowed one walk). Aguilar has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in three consecutive pitching appearances. Aguilar was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while going 2-for-3.
In other batting news, Camila Ramirez was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-2. Another player making a difference was Sidney Sherrod, who scored two runs while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, La Quinta beat Xavier Prep two weeks ago by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 5-0.
Abbygail Varela tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and only two hits while striking out eight over 6.1 innings pitched.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Lauren Mauer, who went 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs, and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Mia Deniz, who went 1-for-3 with a triple and a run.
Palm Desert is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight matches, which provided a massive bump to their 13-9 record this season. As for La Quinta, they pushed their record up to 12-8 with that victory, which was their third straight on the road.
Thursday's game will be a test for both team's pitchers. Palm Desert hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .359. However, it's not like La Quinta struggles in that department as they've averaged .343. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Palm Desert came out on top in a nail-biter against La Quinta in their previous matchup back in March, sneaking past 5-3. The rematch might be a little tougher for Palm Desert since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
