Baseball Game Preview: El Rancho Dons vs. South Gate Rams

The El Rancho Dons will face off against the South Gate Rams at 3:15 p.m. on Monday. The two teams are strolling into their matches after big wins in their previous games.

El Rancho took a loss when they played away from home on Thursday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Saturday. They never let Salesian get on the board and left with a 6-0 win.

The result came thanks to Eric Cortes's shutout, as he gave up just four hits. What's more, he posted four strikeouts, the most he's had since back in February of 2024.

At the plate, Alex Aparicio was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. That's the most runs he has posted since back in April of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of David Aguirre, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4.

El Rancho always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .529. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Salesian only posted an OBP of .192.

Meanwhile, South Gate got the win against Bravo on Friday by a conclusive 8-2.

Naeem Parra made a big impact no matter where he played. He kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 11 over four innings pitched. What's more, he gave up only zero hits, the fewest he's had since back in March of 2024. He was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-4.

In other batting news, South Gate got a massive performance out of Jose Mendoza, who scored two runs while going 2-for-2. Another player making a difference was Manny Braganza, who scored a run and stole three bases while going 3-for-4.

The victory got El Rancho back to even at 2-2. As for South Gate, their win bumped their record up to 1-0.