Baseball Game Preview: Palo Verde Valley Yellow Jackets vs. Gridley Bulldogs

The Palo Verde Valley Yellow Jackets will take on the Gridley Bulldogs in a tournament on Thursday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Having struggled with four defeats in a row, Palo Verde Valley turned things around against Foothills Christian on Wednesday. They walked away with a 5-1 win over the Knights.

Christian Aguilar

Batters Struck Out

04/02/25 vs Foothills Christian	4
03/27/25 vs Imperial	1
03/07/25 @ River Valley	2
02/28/25 vs Spring Creek	5

Christian Aguilar made a big impact no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching seven innings while giving up just one earned run off six hits. What's more, he posted four strikeouts, the most he's had since back in February. He was also big at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two RBI.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Aiden Cano, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances. Amelio Hernandez also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.

Palo Verde Valley kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 13 hits. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Foothills Christian only managed six hits.

Meanwhile, Gridley posted their closest victory since March 8th on Wednesday. They had just enough and edged out Washington 7-6.

Marcus Duncan looked comfortable as he tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit.

At the plate, Gridley let Luis Murillo and Riley Engelmann run wild. Murillo scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-3, while Engelmann went 1-for-2 with three RBI. Another player making a difference was Garrett Francis, who scored a run while going 1-for-2.

Gridley has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 9-5 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.0 runs over those games. As for Palo Verde Valley, their record now sits at 10-6-1.