Baseball Game Preview: King Wolves vs. Norco Cougars

For the second straight game, King will face off against Norco. The Wolves will welcome the Cougars at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. King has given up an average of 7.6 runs per game this season, but Thursday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

King is headed into Thursday's game looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their third straight game on Tuesday. They came up short against Norco, falling 19-4.

For Norco's part, Jordan Ayala made a splash while hitting and pitching. He pitched four innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits. Ayala has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while going 3-for-4.

In other batting news, Norco got a massive performance out of Marcus Blanton, who scored two runs and stole three bases while going 3-for-3. Those three stolen bases gave Blanton a new career-high. Ryan Farias was another key player, scoring four runs while going 4-for-5.

Norco kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 23 hits. They are a perfect 6-0 when they post 11 or more hits.

Norco is on a roll lately: they've won ten of their last 12 matches. That's provided a massive bump to their 13-8 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for King, their loss dropped their record down to 7-10.