Baseball Game Preview: Soledad Aztecs vs. Liberty Lions

The Soledad Aztecs will face off against the Liberty Lions at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Carmel hit Soledad with a five-run seventh inning on Tuesday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Aztecs lost 10-3 to the Padres. The Aztecs have struggled against the Padres recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive lost meeting.

Meanwhile, Liberty came tearing into Thursday's match with five straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 5.8 runs), and they left with even more momentum. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 5-3 victory over the Falcons.

Chayce Formosa made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He struck out six batters over 5.1 innings while giving up three earned runs off seven hits (and not a single walk). He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one walk in three consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going 3-for-4 with one run, one double, and one RBI.

In other batting news, Rane Miller was excellent, going 1-for-3 with one triple, one stolen base, and one run. Another player making a difference was Dylan Amaral, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with one RBI.

Liberty pushed their record up to 15-6 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. Those road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Soledad, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-15.

Soledad might still be hurting after the 14-4 loss they got from Liberty in their previous meeting back in March of 2022. Can the Aztecs avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.