Baseball Game Preview: La Jolla Vikings vs. Bishop's Knights

La Jolla is a perfect 5-0 against Bishop since April of 2015 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Friday. The Vikings will host the Knights at 4:00 p.m. The last four games La Jolla has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.

La Jolla heads in on the heels of a playoff match on Wednesday. They fell just short of Clairemont by a score of 3-2. The loss continues a trend for the Vikings in their meetings with the Chieftains: they've now lost four in a row.

Charlie Smith

Base on Balls Against

05/21/25 vs Clairemont	1
05/15/25 vs La Jolla Country Day	1
05/08/25 vs Clairemont	1

Charlie Smith was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he pitched five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off six hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one walk in three consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, La Jolla saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Ryan Kestler, who went 2-for-3 with one run and one double.

Meanwhile, Bishop's fought the good fight in their extra-innings contest against University City on Wednesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Centurions by a score of 8-7.

Henry Armstrong was cooking despite his team's loss, going 2-for-4 with one run and one double. The team also got some help courtesy of Griff Hemerick, who went 1-for-4 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI.

La Jolla's defeat dropped their record down to 17-13. As for Bishop's, their loss dropped their record down to 18-11-1.

Everything went La Jolla's way against Bishop's in their previous meeting back in May of 2022, as La Jolla made off with a 13-1 victory. Will the Vikings repeat their success, or do the Knights have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.