Baseball Game Preview: Stockdale Mustangs vs. Justin Garza Guardians

The Stockdale Mustangs will be taking part in a tournament against the Justin Garza Guardians at 3:00 p.m. on Friday. Justin Garza took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Stockdale, who comes in off a win.

Stockdale barely beat Tulare Western the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. Stockdale never let Tulare Western get on the board and left with a 10-0 victory on Monday. Stockdale hasn't had any issues with Tulare Western recently, as the game was their third consecutive win against them.

Stockdale got a great performance from Colton Kaiser as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit over five innings pitched. What's more, Kaiser gave up only zero earned runs, the fewest he's had since back in April of 2024.

On the hitting side, Hayden Elchlepp was a standout: he scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-2. Brayden Gutierrez was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing a base while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances.

Meanwhile, Justin Garza was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their fifth straight loss dating back to last season. They took a 4-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of Central.

Luke Trukki was huge no matter where he played even without the win. On the mound, he struck out six batters over 4.1 innings while giving up three earned (and one unearned) runs off four hits. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in strikeouts. He was also big at the plate, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.

Stockdale now has a winning record of 2-1. As for Justin Garza, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-3.