Baseball Game Preview: California Grizzlies vs. Clayton Valley Charter Ugly Eagles

The California Grizzlies will face off against the Clayton Valley Charter Ugly Eagles at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. California has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the contest with four straight losses, while Clayton Valley Charter will come in with nine straight victories.

The home team had won the previous six meetings between California and Foothill, and Foothill kept the tradition alive. The Grizzlies fell just short of the Falcons by a score of 4-3 on Wednesday. That's two games in a row now that the Grizzlies have lost by just one run.

Brayden Gijbels

Batters Struck Out

04/02/25 @ Foothill	7
03/26/25 vs Amador Valley	5
03/19/25 vs Dublin	8
03/08/25 @ Washington	13

Brayden Gijbels was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he struck out seven batters over five innings while giving up three earned (and one unearned) runs off five hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in four consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Logan Kellogg made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went a perfect 2-for-2 with one triple, one run, and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Clayton Valley Charter got themselves on the board against Concord on Thursday, but Concord never followed suit. They blew past the Bears 9-0. Considering the Ugly Eagles have won five games by more than six runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.

Clayton Valley Charter's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 9-0. The road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.7 runs over those games. As for California, they now have a losing record of 4-5.

California came out on top in a nail-biter against Clayton Valley Charter when the teams last played back in April of 2015, sneaking past 1-0. Do the Grizzlies have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Ugly Eagles turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.