Baseball Game Preview: Charter Oak Chargers vs. West Covina Bulldogs

Charter Oak has gone a perfect 10-0 against West Covina recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Monday. The Chargers will challenge the Bulldogs at 3:30 p.m. Charter Oak's pitching crew has only allowed four runs per game this season, so West Covina's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

Charter Oak took a eight-run defeat the last time they faced off against Covina, but this time they managed to keep it close and that made all the difference. The Chargers had just enough and edged out the Colts 5-3. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Chargers have posted since April 2nd.

Marcus Reese tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run over 5.1 innings pitched. He has been consistent: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in six consecutive appearances.

Joaquin Cervantes

Runs

05/01/25 vs Covina	2
04/08/25 vs Rowland	2
03/28/25 vs El Rancho	2
04/22/25 vs Northview	1
04/15/25 vs Wilson	1
+ 2 more games

On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Joaquin Cervantes, who went 1-for-2 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. He is becoming a predictor of Charter Oak's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 2-1 (and 7-11 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Martin Luna, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, one double, and one RBI.

Meanwhile, West Covina had already won two in a row and they went ahead and made it three on Thursday. They were the clear victors by a 10-1 margin over the Wildcats.

Gavin Betancourt was excellent, going 2-for-3 with two runs and one double. Those two hits gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Michael Gutierrez, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with two runs.

West Covina's record now sits at 16-10. As for Charter Oak, the victory snapped their losing streak at three games and leaves them with a 9-12 record.

Charter Oak skirted past West Covina 3-1 in their previous meeting back in April of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Chargers since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.