Baseball Game Preview: Harbor Pirates vs. Soquel Knights

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Previous Games

05/10/24 - Home	11-6 W
05/07/24 - Away	8-6 W
03/28/24 - Home	2-0 W
04/28/23 - Away	5-1 W
04/11/23 - Home	11-3 W
+ 5 more games

Harbor has gone 8-2 against Soquel recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Pirates will head out to take on the Knights at 4:00 p.m. Harbor will aim to continue their three-game streak of scoring more runs each match than the last.

Harbor will bounce into Friday's game after beating Aptos, who they had gone 2-7 against in their nine prior meetings. The Pirates were the clear victors by a 9-1 margin over the Mariners on Wednesday. The result was nothing new for the Pirates, who have now won five contests by eight runs or more so far this season.

Soquel hadn't beaten Scotts Valley on the road since March 22, 2022 but that history sure didn't bother them on Wednesday. The Knights narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past the Falcons 4-2. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Knights have posted against the Falcons since March 27, 2023.

Luke Shoemaker looked comfortable as he pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has been consistent : he hasn't given up more than two hits in five consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Gabe Virgallito was incredible, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 2-for-3. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in doubles (two). Noah Piona was another key player, going 2-for-3 with one double and one RBI.

Harbor has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 11-2 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.1 runs on average over those games. As for Soquel, their victory was their seventh straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 12-1.

Harbor was able to grind out a solid win over Soquel in their previous matchup back in May of 2024, winning 11-6. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Pirates since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.