Baseball Game Preview: West Ranch Wildcats vs. Crean Lutheran Saints

The West Ranch Wildcats will face off against the Crean Lutheran Saints at 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday. West Ranch is coming into the contest hot, having won their last five games.

If West Ranch beats Crean Lutheran with four runs on Tuesday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two games with that exact score. The Wildcats beat Palm Desert on Friday by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 4-3.

Hunter Manning was a major factor no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out six batters over six innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off seven hits. He has been consistent: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in five consecutive appearances. He was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with one home run, three RBI, and one double. That's the most hits he has posted since back in April.

Nolan Stoll

Doubles (Career)

05/16/25 @ Palm Desert	2
04/30/25 @ Golden Valley	1
04/23/25 vs Hart	1
04/16/25 vs San Marcos	1
04/04/25 @ Valencia	1

Manning wasn't the only one making solid contact as five players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Nolan Stoll, who went 2-for-3 with two doubles. Those two doubles gave Stoll a new career-high.

For whatever reason, it's the away team that's had the advantage when Crean Lutheran and La Habra meet (three straight games heading into this one) and that held true again on Friday. The Saints walked away with a 6-1 win over the Highlanders. That's two games straight that the Saints have won by exactly five runs.

West Ranch pushed their record up to 21-9 with the victory, which was their fourth straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.5 runs on average over those games. As for Crean Lutheran, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 20-10 record this season.