Baseball Game Preview: Westview Knights vs. Yuma Criminals

The Westview Knights will take on the Yuma Criminals at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are strolling into their games after big wins in their previous games.

Westview made up a huge gap compared to their last game against Sierra Linda, but they still couldn't quite topple them. Everything went Westview's way against Sierra Linda on Tuesday as Westview made off with a 14-4 victory. The contest marked the Knights' most dominant win of the season so far.

Jordan Perez and Justin Marquez did most of the damage at the plate: Perez scored three runs and stole Two bases. while going 2-for-4, while Marquez scored two runs while going 3-for-5. That's the most hits Perez has posted since back in March of 2024. Luis Hernandez also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.

Westview was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .457. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their batting average total in three consecutive matchups.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Yuma). They blew past Jefferson 13-1 on Saturday. The Criminals might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three games by seven runs or more this season.

Eli Lujan made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He struck out six batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits (and only one walk). Lujan was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing Two bases. while going 1-for-3.

In other batting news, Yuma let Jaime Ruelas and Deven Aguirrebarrena run wild. Ruelas went 3-for-4 with two runs, one triple, and two RBI, while Aguirrebarrena scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances. Kane Huerta-Urbalejo was another key player, scoring a run and stealing Two bases. while going 2-for-2.

The victory made it two in a row for Yuma and bumps their season record up to 3-1. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 9.5 runs. As for Westview, their win ended a ten-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 3-2.