Baseball Game Preview: Hillcrest Christian Saints vs. Ojai Valley Spuds

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Previous Games

04/15/25 - Home	9-20 L
03/24/22 - Home	0-20 L
04/25/19 - Home	9-7 W
03/21/19 - Away	7-0 W
05/10/18 - Away	11-17 L
+ 5 more games

Hillcrest Christian and Ojai Valley are an even 5-5 against one another since April of 2017, but likely not for long. The Saints will face off against the Spuds on Thursday. Hillcrest Christian has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the matchup with three straight defeats, while Ojai Valley will come in with six straight victories.

Hillcrest Christian lost 21-13 to Gorman Learning Charter - Santa Clarita on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Ojai Valley was able to grind out a solid win over Beacon Hill on Monday, taking the game 6-1.

Archer Moller made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out 14 over six innings pitched. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Ojai Valley is undefeated when he allows at most one earned run, but 3-4 otherwise. Moller was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in two of his four plate appearances with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI. He is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged at least one in each of the last three games he's played.

In other batting news, Scotty Hatton was excellent, going 2-for-4 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last four times he's played. Another player making a difference was Renji Hanai, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base and one double.

Ojai Valley pushed their record up to 7-4 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.7 runs over those games. As for Hillcrest Christian, their loss dropped their record down to 0-3.

Hillcrest Christian might still be hurting after the 20-9 defeat they got from Ojai Valley in their previous meeting two weeks ago. Can the Saints avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.