Baseball Game Preview: Harbor Teacher Monarchs vs. Van Nuys Wolves

The Harbor Teacher Monarchs are taking a road trip to take on the Van Nuys Wolves at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Harbor Teacher is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They were the clear victors by a 17-7 margin over Stella High Charter Academy. The Monarchs might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven matchups by seven runs or more this season.

Derek Nieves was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he pitched 1.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two hits in five consecutive appearances. He was even better at the plate, going 4-for-5 with three runs, two RBI, and one double. That's the most hits he has posted since back in March.

Mason Salcedo

Runs (Career)

05/13/25 vs Stella High Charter Academy	4
05/01/25 vs Dorsey	2
05/08/25 vs Locke	1
05/05/25 vs King/Drew	1
04/28/25 vs Port of Los Angeles	1

In other batting news, Mason Salcedo was a standout: he got on base in all five of his plate appearances with four runs and four RBI. Those four runs gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Michael Nevarez, who went 3-for-4 with two runs, one triple, and one double.

Meanwhile, Van Nuys came tearing into Friday's game with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 4.3 runs), and they left with even more momentum. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past the Vikings 2-0.

Van Nuys saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Joel Enciso, who went 2-for-4 with one run.

The win made it two in a row for Harbor Teacher and bumps their season record up to 12-7. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 14.5 runs over those games. As for Van Nuys, their record now sits at 16-6.