The Junipero Serra Padres will face off against the De La Salle Spartans at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Junipero Serra comes in on five and De La Salle on six.
Junipero Serra is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Los Gatos a 3-0 shutout.
Not much got past Nate Hui, who gave up just seven hits to keep Los Gatos off the board. Hui has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up a single earned run in six consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Tyler Harrison, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.
Meanwhile, De La Salle faced St. Mary's in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Thursday. The Spartans came out on top against the Rams by a score of 3-0.
Not much got past Graham Schlicht, who gave up just four hits and racked up nine Ks to keep St. Mary's off the board.
At the plate, Antonio Castro was excellent, going 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, two RBI, and one double. The team also got some help courtesy of Niko Baumgartner, who went 1-for-2 with two stolen bases and one run.
De La Salle's victory was their 13th straight at home, which pushed their record up to 28-4. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.1 runs over those games. As for Junipero Serra, their victory bumped their record up to 28-6.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Saturday. Junipero Serra hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.7 home runs per game. However, it's not like De La Salle struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.5 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Junipero Serra couldn't quite get it done against De La Salle in their previous meeting back in April as they fell 5-2. Can the Padres avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
