Baseball Game Preview: Barstow Aztecs vs. Excelsior Charter Eagles

The Barstow Aztecs are taking a road trip to face off against the Excelsior Charter Eagles at 3:15 p.m. on Thursday. Barstow will be strutting in after a win while Excelsior Charter will be coming in after a loss.

Barstow will bounce into Thursday's contest after beating Victor Valley, who they had gone 2-7 against in their nine prior meetings. Barstow walked away with an 8-3 victory over Victor Valley on Wednesday. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last six times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.

Robert Shipley was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He struck out eight batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off five hits (and only one walk). He is becoming a predictor of Barstow's success: when he allows at most one earned run the team is undefeated (and 2-5 when he doesn't). Shipley was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.

Joshya Romero

Runs Batted In (Career)

03/26/25 vs Victor Valley	3
03/03/25 @ Academy for Academic Excellence	2
02/17/25 @ Chaparral	2
03/07/25 @ Silver Valley	1
02/27/25 vs Excelsior Charter	1

In other batting news, Joshya Romero was incredible, scoring a run while going 2-for-3. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in RBI (three).

Meanwhile, Monday just wasn't the day for Excelsior Charter's offense. They came up short against Whittier Christian on Monday, falling 24-0. Having soared to a lofty 16 runs in the game before, the Eagles' shutout was a dramatic turnaround.

The win got Barstow back to even at 5-5. As for Excelsior Charter, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-9.

Barstow was able to grind out a solid victory over Excelsior Charter when the teams last played back in February, winning 8-3. The rematch might be a little tougher for Barstow since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.