Baseball Preview: Ukiah Wildcats vs. Rancho Cotate Cougars
The Ukiah Wildcats will head out on the road to challenge the Rancho Cotate Cougars at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Ukiah is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.5 runs per game this season.
Ukiah's hitters might be in the hot seat on Tuesday considering what happened against Cardinal Newman on Monday. They fell just short of the Cardinals by a score of 2-0. Ukiah has struggled against Cardinal Newman recently, as their match on Monday was their seventh consecutive lost matchup.
Ukiah saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Trenton Ford, who went 1-for-3 with a stolen base.
Meanwhile, Rancho Cotate made easy work of Santa Rosa on Saturday and carried off an 8-2 victory.
Camden Henington made a splash while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching four innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits. Henington has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive pitching appearances. Henington was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while getting on base in two of his five plate appearances.
In other batting news, Rancho Cotate let Stephen Scott and Lucas Hermes loose on the outfield. Scott scored two runs while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances, while Hermes scored a run while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Ukiah's defeat dropped their record down to 12-6. As for Rancho Cotate, their win bumped their record up to 10-11.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Ukiah has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Rancho Cotate struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.6. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Ukiah beat Rancho Cotate 4-0 when the teams last played back in May of 2023. The rematch might be a little tougher for Ukiah since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
