The Cibola Raiders will challenge the Desert Sunrise Golden Hawks at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday. Desert Sunrise took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Cibola, who comes in off a win.
Cibola is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They put the hurt on Estrella Foothills with a sharp 21-1 victory on Tuesday. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest win of the season.
Aliana Padilla made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, tossing three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. Padilla was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in RBI (two).
In other batting news, Marielsy Ortega and Angelica Arellano did most of the damage at the plate: Ortega went a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, four RBI, and two runs, while Arellano went a perfect 2-for-2 with one home run, three runs, and three RBI. That's the most hits Ortega has posted since back in April of 2024. Sophia McCall was another key player, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 4-for-5.
Cibola always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .658. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, Desert Sunrise was not able to break out of their rough patch on Monday as the team picked up their fourth straight defeat. They came up short against Poston Butte, falling 19-1.
Angelica Tilton was cooking despite her team's loss, scoring a run and stealing Three bases. That run marked the first that she scored this season.
Cibola's victory bumped their record up to 3-8. As for Desert Sunrise, their loss dropped their record down to 0-4.
Desert Sunrise's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Cibola hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .331. It's a different story for Desert Sunrise, though, as they've only averaged .186. Will they be able to contain Cibola's hitters? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other softball content.
