The Palmer Ridge Bears will square off against the Discovery Canyon Thunder at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Palmer Ridge is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last five games.
Palmer Ridge is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Colorado's top teams: Cheyenne Mountain, who was ranked 25th in their home state at the time (Palmer Ridge was ranked 13th). Palmer Ridge sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 4-2 victory over Cheyenne Mountain on Monday. That's two games straight that the Bears have won by exactly two runs.
Ashlyn Short spent all eight innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just two earned runs on six hits and racked up ten Ks. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in four consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Savanah Martinez was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-2. The team also got some help courtesy of Kayleigh Garcia, who went 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI.
Palmer Ridge didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with ten strikeouts. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now tossed at least ten strikeouts in three consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Discovery Canyon beat Lewis-Palmer 10-6 on Monday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Thunder.
Cashlyn Murphy was a standout: she scored two runs and stole three bases while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances. What's more, she also posted a .750 OBP, which is the highestshe's posted since back in October of 2023. Another player making a difference was Taylor McCann, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4.
Palmer Ridge has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won ten of their last 11 games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-2-1 record this season. As for Discovery Canyon, their record is now 7-9.
Discovery Canyon's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Palmer Ridge has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 10.5 hits per game. It's a different story for Discovery Canyon, though, as they've been averaging 8.8. Given Palmer Ridge's sizable advantage in that area, Discovery Canyon will need to find a way to close that gap.
Palmer Ridge took their win against Discovery Canyon in their previous matchup two weeks ago by a conclusive 14-4. The rematch might be a little tougher for Palmer Ridge since the squad 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
