The El Toro Chargers will head out on the road to square off against the Capistrano Valley Cougars at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams have allowed few runs on average, (El Toro: 2.9, Capistrano Valley: 2.5) so any runs scored will be well earned.
On Tuesday, El Toro had just enough and edged Trabuco Hills out 4-3. The win made it back-to-back victories for El Toro.
Kylie Loertscher spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just two earned (and one unearned) runs on six hits and racked up nine Ks. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in 14 consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Ellie Mattocks was excellent, going 2-for-3 with a triple, a run, and a double. Another player making a difference was Camyrn Bradshaw, who scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Capistrano Valley entered their tilt with San Clemente with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They came out on top against the Tritons by a score of 6-1 on Tuesday.
Capistrano Valley also let their pitcher toss all seven innings and she was also dialed-in: Madi McDonnell gave up only one earned run on five hits.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Maddie McSorley, who went 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. Quinn Southerland was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-4.
El Toro is on a roll lately: they've won ten of their last 12 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 15-6 record this season. As for Capistrano Valley, their victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 20-6.
Capistrano Valley's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Thursday. El Toro has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.6 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Capistrano Valley, though, as they've been averaging only 3.9. Will El Toro keep running through batters, or will Capistrano Valley buck the trend?
El Toro couldn't quite finish off Capistrano Valley when the teams last played last Tuesday and fell 4-2. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of McDonnell, who pitched seven innings while giving up just two earned runs off three hits. Now that El Toro knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
