The Mission Oak Hawks will face off against the Dinuba Emperors at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Mission Oak is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7 runs per game this season.
Dinuba will face off against a team with plenty of momentum: Mission Oak extended their winning streak to three on Wednesday. The Hawks walked away with an 8-3 victory over Hanford.
Maleena Martin spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and two unearned) runs on nine hits.
Masyn Robertson
| 04/23/25 @ Hanford | 2 |
| 03/08/25 vs Reedley | 1 |
| 03/07/25 @ Sierra Pacific | 1 |
| 03/04/25 vs Lindsay | 2 |
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Masyn Robertson, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one double. That's the most hits she has posted since back in March. The team also got some help courtesy of Kim Cortez, who went 1-for-3 with two runs and one stolen base.
They weren't the only ones making solid contact: Mission Oak kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least nine hits in four consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Wednesday just wasn't the day for Dinuba's offense. They fell just short of Tulare Union by a score of 1-0 on Wednesday. The Emperors have struggled against the Tribe recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive lost meeting.
Dinuba also let their pitcher toss all seven innings and she was also dialed-in: Neveah Garcia gave up a run (which was unearned) on five hits and racked up six Ks. Garcia has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances.
Mission Oak now has a winning record of 10-9-1. As for Dinuba, their defeat was their first in the league, dropping their league record down to 3-1 and their overall record down to 15-6.
Both the two teams just can't seem to miss. Mission Oak has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 9 hits per game. However, it's not like Dinuba struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 5.6 hits. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Mission Oak was able to grind out a solid win over Dinuba when the teams last played back in May of 2024, winning 4-1. Will the Hawks repeat their success, or do the Emperors have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
