Mountain View and Desert Vista are an even 5-5 against one another since May of 2019, but likely not for long. The Toros will venture away from home to face off against the Thunder at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Mountain View is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.9 runs per game this season.
Mountain View is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 1-0 win over Highland. The victory continues a trend for the Toros in their matchups with the Hawks: they've now won three in a row.
Justice Yanke
| 03/01/25 vs St. Mary's | 3 |
| 04/09/25 vs Perry | 2 |
| 03/08/25 vs Williams Field | 2 |
| 04/17/25 vs Red Mountain | 1 |
| 04/04/25 vs Highland | 1 |
The result came thanks to Justice Yanke's shutout, as he gave up just four hits. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Mountain View is undefeated when he allows at most one earned run, but 9-11 otherwise.
At the plate, Mountain View's win was truly a team effort as three different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Ryan Person, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base. Person is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged at least one in each of the last three games he's played.
Meanwhile, Desert Vista was able to grind out a solid victory over Boulder Creek on Monday, taking the game 8-3. That's two games straight that the Thunder have won by exactly five runs.
Kason Webb tossed a big game, striking out six batters over five innings while giving up three earned runs off six hits (and not a single walk).
On the hitting side, Desert Vista got a big performance out of Noah Gutierrez, who went 1-for-3 with three stolen bases and two runs. Those three stolen bases gave Gutierrez a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Benjamin Romaine, who went 1-for-3 with three stolen bases and two runs.
Mountain View pushed their record up to 17-11 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.5 runs on average over those games. As for Desert Vista, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 18-9.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Saturday. Mountain View hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.4 home runs per game. However, it's not like Desert Vista struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.6 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Mountain View suffered a grim 19-5 defeat to Desert Vista when the teams last played back in March. Can the Toros avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
