Baseball Game Preview: South Spartans vs. Kennedy Thunderbirds

The South Spartans will be taking part in a tournament against the Kennedy Thunderbirds at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this contest.

South saw some tournament action on Friday. They fell 18-14 to Wasco. The Spartans have struggled against the Tigers recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive lost matchup.

Josh Encinas was huge no matter where he played even without the win. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching 3.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off four hits. Encinas was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs while going 2-for-4.

Alex Portillo

Hits (Career)

02/28/25 vs Wasco	4
04/17/24 vs West	2
04/03/24 @ Del Oro	2
03/25/24 vs Wonderful College Prep Academy	2
02/27/24 @ Foothill	2

In other batting news, Alex Portillo and Tomas Encinas stepped up to the plate in a big way. Portillo scored three runs and stole a base while going 4-for-5, while Encinas scored three runs and stole a base while going 4-for-4. The dominant performance also gave Portillo a new career-high in hits (four). Another player making a difference was Julien Espinoza, who scored a run while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.

Meanwhile, Kennedy was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their eighth straight defeat dating back to last season. They were a single run away from ending the streak, but they lost a 3-2 heartbreaker at the hands of Arvin.

Kennedy saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Miguel Gutierrez, who went 3-for-4 with one triple and one run.

Even though they lost, Kennedy kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Arvin only managed five hits.

South's record now sits at 1-1. As for Kennedy, their record is now 0-2.

Everything went South's way against Kennedy when the teams last played back in February of 2024, as South made off with a 7-1 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for South since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.