Baseball Game Preview: Whittier Cardinals vs. El Rancho Dons

Whittier is 1-9 against El Rancho since May of 2021 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Cardinals will host the Dons at 3:15 p.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

On Wednesday, Whittier didn't have quite enough to beat California and fell 7-6.

Whittier got a good showing from Adrian Magallanes, who pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. That's the first time Magallanes hasn't allowed a single earned run since back in April of 2024.

On the hitting side, Ryan Jimenez was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring a run while going 3-for-4. Another player making a difference was Carl Collins, who scored a run while going 1-for-4.

Meanwhile, El Rancho entered their matchup against Santa Fe on Wednesday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. The Dons fell 5-1 to the Chiefs.

El Rancho saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Alex Aparicio, who went 2-for-3 with one double.

El Rancho's defeat dropped their record down to 8-8. As for Whittier, their loss dropped their record down to 6-8.

Whittier came out on top in a nail-biter against El Rancho when the teams last played back in April of 2024, sneaking past 8-6. Will the Cardinals repeat their success, or do the Dons have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.