Baseball Game Preview: Santa Ynez Pirates vs. Santa Clara Saints

The Santa Ynez Pirates will face off against the Santa Clara Saints at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. Santa Clara took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Santa Ynez, who comes in off a win.

Having struggled with four defeats in a row, Santa Ynez turned things around against Orcutt Academy on Thursday. They blew past the Spartans 10-2. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last six times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.

Jaxon Glover

Stolen Base

03/27/25 vs Orcutt Academy	2
03/25/25 vs Nipomo	1
03/20/25 @ Morro Bay	1

Jaxon Glover was a standout: he scored a run and stole two bases while going 1-for-3. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played. Another player making a difference was Toby Stevens, who scored a run and stole three bases while going 2-for-4.

Santa Ynez was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .379. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their batting average total in three consecutive matches.

Meanwhile, Santa Clara was not able to break out of their rough patch on March 8th as the team picked up their fifth straight loss. They lost 13-1 to Nordhoff.

Santa Clara saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Yandel Vargas, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with one stolen base. Julian Garcia also deserves some recognition as he scored his first run of the season.

Santa Ynez's victory was their first in the league, bumping their league record up to 1-3 and their overall record up to 4-6. As for Santa Clara, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-5.

The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Friday as neither team is afraid to steal. Santa Ynez has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.4 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Santa Clara struggles in that department as they've been averaging 4 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.

Santa Ynez took their win against Santa Clara when the teams last played back in March of 2024 by a conclusive 16-1. Will Santa Ynez repeat their success, or does Santa Clara has a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.