Baseball Game Preview: Coronado Thunderbirds vs. Eastwood Troopers

The Coronado Thunderbirds will venture away from home to face off against the Eastwood Troopers at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Coronado is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.6 runs per game this season.

On Tuesday, Coronado made easy work of Montwood and carried off a 14-2 victory. The Thunderbirds have beaten the Rams the last four times they've met, but they better watch out: this was the closest the Rams has come to flipping the script.

Jaxon Baptist

Batters Struck Out

04/15/25 vs Montwood	6
04/09/25 vs Franklin	5
04/01/25 @ Eastlake	8
03/25/25 vs Eastwood	7
03/18/25 vs Montwood	5
+ 6 more games

Coronado got a great performance from Jaxon Baptist as he struck out six batters over five innings while giving up just two earned runs off two hits. Baptist has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in 11 consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Ben Wilson and Jayden Hernandez did most of the damage at the plate: Wilson went 3-for-4 with four RBI, two runs, and one stolen base, while Hernandez went a perfect 3-for-3 with four RBI, two runs, and two doubles. That's the most RBI Wilson has posted since back in March. Kaleb Guerrero was another key player, scoring two runs while going 2-for-3.

Meanwhile, Eastwood was able to grind out a solid win over Franklin on Saturday, taking the game 5-2. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Troopers.

Eastwood's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 16-9-1. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.0 runs over those games. As for Coronado, their record now sits at 21-9.

Coronado beat Eastwood 10-6 when the teams last played back in March. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Thunderbirds since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.