Baseball Game Preview: Pinewood Panthers vs. North Valley Baptist Bulldogs

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Previous Games

04/25/24 - Away	13-6 W
04/23/24 - Home	13-16 L
04/28/23 - Away	15-5 W
04/26/22 - Home	18-4 W
05/07/19 - Home	8-3 W
+ 5 more games

Pinewood is 9-1 against North Valley Baptist since April of 2017 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Monday. The Panthers will look to defend their home field against the Bulldogs at 4:00 p.m. North Valley Baptist took a loss in their last match and will be looking to turn the tables on Pinewood, who comes in off a win.

It was a proper cat-fight when Pinewood took on Summit Tahoma on Friday. The Panthers put the hurt on the Tigers with a sharp 22-9 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Panthers.

Zaiden Saberi was a standout: he went 5-for-6 with five stolen bases, five RBI, and two runs. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 1.2 stolen bases per game. Another player making a difference was Allan Skelley, who got on base in three of his five plate appearances with six stolen bases, three runs, and two RBI.

Pinewood always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .729. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.

Meanwhile, North Valley Baptist was not able to break out of their rough patch last Tuesday as the team picked up their fifth straight loss. They fell 8-5 to Summit Shasta.

Ethan Kirby was cooking despite his team's loss, going 3-for-4 with two stolen bases and two runs. He is becoming a predictor of North Valley Baptist's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 2-1 (and 2-4 when he doesn't).

North Valley Baptist now has a losing record of 4-5. As for Pinewood, their victory bumped their record up to 5-11.

Monday's game will be a test for both teams' pitchers. Pinewood hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .340. However, it's not like North Valley Baptist struggles in that department as they've averaged .390. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.

Pinewood took their win against North Valley Baptist when the teams last played back in April of 2024 by a conclusive 13-6 score. Will the Panthers repeat their success, or do the Bulldogs have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.