The River Valley Dust Devils will head out on the road to challenge the Highland Prep Honey Badgers at 3:45 p.m. on Monday. River Valley is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.8 runs per game this season.
While River Valley's win against Tonopah Valley wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Dust Devils had just enough and edged out the Phoenix 4-2. The Dust Devils haven't had any issues with the Phoenix recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive victory against them.
Mickey Smith made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Smith was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two runs, one triple, and one RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Mickey Gonzalez, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run and two RBI.
Meanwhile, Highland Prep was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their 17th straight defeat dating back to last season. They came up short against Odyssey Institute, falling 13-0.
Highland Prep saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Caden Belanger-Frank, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with one stolen base.
River Valley's win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-4-2. Those home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.8 runs over those games. As for Highland Prep, their loss dropped their record down to 0-9.
Highland Prep's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Monday. River Valley has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.4 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Highland Prep, though, as they've been averaging only 4.1 strikeouts. Will River Valley keep running through batters, or will the Honey Badgers buck the trend?
Everything went River Valley's way against Highland Prep in their previous meeting on Wednesday, as River Valley made off with a 16-0 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Dust Devils since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
