Baseball Game Preview: Verdugo Hills Dons vs. South Gate Rams

The Verdugo Hills Dons will venture away from home to take on the South Gate Rams at 11:00 a.m. on Monday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Verdugo Hills has six straight victories, South Gate has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Last Friday, Verdugo Hills got the win against North Hollywood by a conclusive 11-1.

D'Angelo Duran

Runs

04/11/25 vs North Hollywood	2
03/31/25 vs Monroe	2
03/10/25 @ Roosevelt	2
04/07/25 @ North Hollywood	1
04/05/25 @ Kennedy	1
+ 2 more games

D'Angelo Duran was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run over four innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up a single earned run in three consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing two bases. He is becoming a predictor of Verdugo Hills' success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 2-1 (and 5-10 when he doesn't).

In other batting news, Ethan Sanchez was incredible, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 2-for-3. Those two stolen bases gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was David Castaneda, who scored a run and stole two bases while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances.

Verdugo Hills was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .524. They are a perfect 4-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.

Meanwhile, South Gate didn't have quite enough to beat Marshall on Saturday and fell 3-2.

Verdugo Hills pushed their record up to 7-11 with the win, which was their third straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.3 runs on average over those games. As for South Gate, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-12.

Verdugo Hills took their win against South Gate when the teams last played back in February of 2024 by a conclusive 11-1 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Dons since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.