The Silver Creek Raiders will face off against the Aptos Mariners at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Silver Creek is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last nine games.
The home team had come away the winner the last six times Silver Creek and Mt. Pleasant had met, but sadly for the fans who attended this one that wasn't the case. The Raiders put the hurt on the Cardinals with a sharp 12-6 win on Thursday. Considering the Raiders have won 15 games by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Cayleb Duran
| 05/08/25 @ Mt. Pleasant | 4 |
| 05/01/25 vs Independence | 3 |
| 04/22/25 @ Yerba Buena | 3 |
| 04/15/25 @ Mt. Pleasant | 3 |
| 04/03/25 vs San Jose | 3 |
Giovanni Mejia and Cayleb Duran were major factors while hitting and pitching. Throwing, Mejia pitched 1.1 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Meanwhile, Duran pitched 5.2 innings while giving up just two earned (and four unearned) runs off ten hits. He has been consistent for a while: he hasn't given up more than two walks in nine consecutive appearances. At bat, Mejia went 2-for-4 with two runs and one RBI, while Duran went 4-for-5 with two stolen bases, four RBI, and one run. Those four hits gave Duran a new career-high.
In other batting news, Silver Creek got a big performance out of Noah Medina, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with two runs and one RBI. Those four hits gave Medina a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Saxton Sinatra, who went 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI.
Silver Creek kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 20 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in 15 consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Aptos). Everything went their way against Harbor on Friday as they made off with a 16-2 victory. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Mariners considering their one-run performance the match before.
Jason Yager tossed a big game, striking out seven batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off seven hits. He is becoming a predictor of Aptos' success: when he allows at most one earned run the team is 4-2 (and 5-11 when he doesn't).
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Alec Mendoza, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. Aptos is undefeated when Mendoza posts two or more runs, but 6-13 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Adam Ayon, who went 3-for-4 with three runs and one RBI.
Silver Creek's win was their sixth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 20-4. Those road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.0 runs on average over those games. As for Aptos, their win bumped their record up to 9-13.
Aptos' pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Silver Creek hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .423. It's a different story for Aptos, though, as they've only averaged .253. Will they be able to contain Silver Creek's hitters? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
