Bellarmine College Prep is 1-8-1 against Valley Christian since June of 2021 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Bells will square off against the Warriors at 4:00 p.m. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Bellarmine College Prep sitting on three straight victories and Valley Christian on five.
Bellarmine College Prep can't be too worried about heading out to take on Valley Christian: they just beat Junipero Serra at home, who had been dominant on their own field up to that point. The Bells never let the Padres get on the board and left with a 1-0 win on Wednesday. The game was the first time the Bells have beaten the Padres on their field since May 24, 2023.
Preston Pera tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run over 5.2 innings pitched.
At the plate, Bellarmine College Prep's victory was truly a team effort as four different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Nathan Chew, who went 1-for-2 with one double and one RBI.
The home team had won the previous three meetings between Valley Christian and St. Ignatius College Preparatory, and Valley Christian kept the tradition alive. The Warriors had just enough and edged out the Wildcats 3-1.
Christopher Buck looked comfortable as he pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run any time he's pitched this season.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Logan Mull, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one run, one double, and one RBI. Those three hits gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Jordan Ortiz, who went 1-for-3 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
Valley Christian pushed their record up to 23-5-1 with the win, which was their eighth straight at home. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.6 runs on average over those games. As for Bellarmine College Prep, their record is now 16-13.
Bellarmine College Prep came up short against Valley Christian in their previous matchup back in March, falling 4-0. Can the Bells avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
