The Royal Highlanders will face off against the Paraclete Spirits at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. The timing is sure in Royal's favor as the squad sits on nine straight wins at home while Paraclete has been banged up by five consecutive losses on the road.
Royal's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They put the hurt on Highland with a sharp 11-0 win. Considering the Highlanders have won seven matches by more than six runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Dustin Dunnwoody looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit over four innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one walk in four consecutive appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Zachary Nagy, who scored two runs while going 3-for-4. Another player making a difference was Noah Vasquez, who went 2-for-3 with two doubles.
Royal kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Highland only managed one hit.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Paraclete). They walked away with a 12-7 victory over Castaic on Wednesday. The win was a breath of fresh air for the Spirits as it put an end to their three-game losing streak.
Antonio Longobardi was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 3-for-4. Paraclete is 2-1 when Longobardi posts two or more runs, but 3-9 otherwise. Jesse Hernandez was another key player, scoring two runs while going 1-for-3.
Royal's victory bumped their record up to 14-2. As for Paraclete, their win bumped their record up to 5-10.
Paraclete's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Saturday. Royal has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 10.6 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Paraclete, though, as they've been averaging only 4.1 strikeouts. Will Royal keep running through batters, or will the Spirits buck the trend?
Royal beat Paraclete 4-1 in their previous matchup back in June of 2021. Will the Highlanders repeat their success, or do the Spirits have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
