Boulder Creek is 1-9 against Liberty since February of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Monday. The Jaguars will welcome the Lions at 3:45 p.m. Boulder Creek will be strutting in after a victory while Liberty will be coming in after a loss.
Boulder Creek's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They were the clear victors by a 10-0 margin over Mesa. The Jaguars have beaten the Jackrabbits the last five times they've met, but they better watch out: this was the closest the Jackrabbits has come to flipping the script.
Matt Nicolosi made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching one inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit. What's more, he posted three strikeouts, the most he's had since back in February. He was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 3-for-4. He is becoming a predictor of Boulder Creek's success: when he posts at least three hits the team is 2-1 (and 4-11 when he doesn't).
Adrian Blanco
| 04/11/25 @ Mesa | 8 |
| 03/19/25 vs Timnath | 4 |
| 04/03/25 @ Mountain Ridge | 3 |
| 03/21/24 vs Queen Creek | 3 |
| 03/05/24 @ Westwood | 3 |
In other pitching news, Adrian Blanco looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out eight over four innings pitched. Those eight strikeouts gave him a new career-high.
Back at the plate, Ren Wallace was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-2. He has become a key player for Boulder Creek: the team is 2-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 4-11 otherwise. Jake Parks was another key player, scoring two runs while going 1-for-2.
Boulder Creek always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .567. They are 4-1 when they post an OBP of .513 or better.
Meanwhile, Liberty faced O'Connor in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Thursday. The Lions wound up with the same score they had in their last game (5-4), but sadly the team found themselves on the wrong side of the score this time.
Liberty's defeat was their first in the region, dropping their region record down to 3-1 and their overall record down to 14-6. As for Boulder Creek, their win bumped their record up to 6-12.
Boulder Creek suffered a grim 10-1 defeat to Liberty in their previous meeting back in April of 2024. Can the Jaguars avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
