Baseball Game Preview: Charlotte Christian Knights vs. Yuma Criminals

The Charlotte Christian Knights will face off against the Yuma Criminals at 10:00 a.m. on Friday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Charlotte Christian's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They walked away with a 3-0 victory over Ysleta. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Knights.

Grant Nicholson

Batters Struck Out (Career)

02/27/25 vs Ysleta	11
03/13/24 @ Lexington	10
04/25/24 vs Covenant Day	9
05/11/24 vs North Raleigh Christian Academy	8
05/02/24 vs Carmel Christian	8

Grant Nicholson tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out 11 over 5.1 innings pitched. Those 11 strikeouts gave him a new career-high.

At the plate, Ivan Andino was excellent, scoring a run while going 3-for-3.

Meanwhile, Yuma had to kick off their season on the road on Thursday, but they showed no ill effects. They put the hurt on Sahuaro with a sharp 10-1 win.

Juan Ayala made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out seven batters over six innings while giving up just one earned run off five hits (and not a single walk). Ayala was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 2-for-2.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Eli Lujan, who scored three runs and stole two bases while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Jaime Ruelas, who went 2-for-4 with one triple, one run, and one double.

Yuma was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .417. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .310 or higher in four consecutive games dating back to last season.