The Shadow Ridge Mustangs will head out to challenge the Palo Verde Panthers at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The last three games Shadow Ridge has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.
Shadow Ridge is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Nevada's top teams: Liberty, who was ranked seventh at the time (Shadow Ridge was ranked fourth). The Mustangs came out on top against the Patriots on Thursday by a score of 4-3 (the very same score they lost by in their prior game). For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Mustangs have posted against the Patriots since April 22, 2022.
Aleana Aionaaka and Madison Foster did most of the damage at the plate: Aionaaka went 2-for-3 with one triple and one RBI, while Foster went 2-for-3 with one triple and one RBI.
Meanwhile, Palo Verde put another one in the bag on Monday to keep their perfect season alive. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Coronado a 5-0 shutout. Give the Panthers' pitching crew some credit: that's the team's third straight shutout.
The result came thanks to Ava Koenig's shutout, as she gave up just three hits and racked up 14 Ks. She has been consistent : she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in five consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Taylor Johns, who got on base in three of her four plate appearances with one home run and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Haley Kearnes, who scored a run while going 2-for-4.
Palo Verde pushed their record up to 13-0 with the win, which was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Shadow Ridge, their record is now 10-5.
Both Shadow Ridge and Palo Verde just can't seem to miss. The Mustangs have been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 11.5 hits per game. However, it's not like Palo Verde struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 3.5 hits. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Shadow Ridge couldn't quite finish off Palo Verde in their previous matchup two weeks ago and fell 11-9. Can the Mustangs avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
