Baseball Game Preview: South Spartans vs. Tehachapi Warriors

South hasn't had much luck against Tehachapi recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. South will venture away from home to take on Tehachapi at 4:00 p.m. South will be looking to extend their current six-game winning streak.

South barely beat North the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. South beat North on Tuesday by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 14-3. The Spartans might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four matches by six runs or more this season.

Tomas Encinas

Batters Struck Out

03/25/25 @ North	7
03/18/25 vs East Bakersfield	8
03/10/25 vs Kern Valley	9
03/01/25 vs Kennedy	8
02/27/25 vs California City	6

Tomas Encinas made a splash while hitting and pitching. He struck out seven batters over five innings while giving up three earned runs off five hits. He has been consistent : he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in five consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing three bases while going 2-for-4.

In other batting news, Giovanni Jimenez and Jose Bojorquez did most of the damage at the plate: Jimenez scored three runs and stole two bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances, while Bojorquez scored two runs and stole four bases while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. That's the most runs Jimenez has posted since back in May of 2024. Another player making a difference was Alberto Arellano, who scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.

South always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .629. That was just more of the same: they've now posted an OBP of .500 or higher in four consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Tehachapi started off well but failed to capitalize on an early lead against Clovis East. They lost 11-1 to the Timberwolves on Tuesday. The Warriors have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Tehachapi's loss dropped their record down to 6-5. As for South, their record now sits at 8-2.