The Pinnacle Pioneers will take on the O'Connor Eagles at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday. Pinnacle will be strutting in after a win while O'Connor will be coming in after a loss.
Pinnacle's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. They were the clear victors by a 22-0 margin over Valley Vista. The result was nothing new for the Pioneers, who have now won seven games by nine runs or more so far this season.
Noah Weiss looked comfortable as he struck out seven batters over 3.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off four hits (and not a single walk). He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks any time he's pitched this season.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Raul Escobar, who fired off three home runs and four RBI while going 3-for-3. That's the most hits he has posted since back in March. The team also got some help courtesy of Will Newman, who went 2-for-4 with one home run, four RBI, and one stolen base.
Pinnacle always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .686. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, O'Connor faced Hamilton in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Tuesday. The Eagles fell just short of the Huskies by a score of 7-6. The Eagles have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Quinn Sullivan got O'Connor off to a strong start despite the final result, not allowing a single hit and allowing only one earned run over five innings pitched. The dominant performance also gave Sullivan a new career-low in hits (zero).
At the plate, Brent Sollars and Mikey Gyde did some serious damage despite the final result: Sollars went 2-for-5 with two doubles, one run, and one RBI, while Gyde went 3-for-5 with two runs, one double, and one RBI. Gio Boncore-Montoya was another key player, going a perfect 4-for-4 with one run.
The victory made it two in a row for Pinnacle and bumps their season record up to 17-6. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 14.5 runs over those games. As for O'Connor, their defeat dropped their record down to 16-7-2.
Pinnacle came out on top in a nail-biter against O'Connor when the teams last played on Monday, sneaking past 7-5. Do the Pioneers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Eagles turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
