Baseball Recap: North Triumphs

North proved they can win big on Monday (they won by 11) and on Wednesday they proved they can win the close ones too. They came out on top in a nail-biter against the Peninsula Panthers, sneaking past 6-4. This was a revenge game for the Saxons: when they faced off against the Panthers back in February, they had to take a 4-1 defeat.

North got a great performance from Shouta Saito as he struck out seven batters over 5.2 innings while giving up three earned runs off four hits (and only one walk). Saito has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in three consecutive appearances.

Lucas Blackwood

Runs

03/18/26 vs Peninsula	2
03/11/26 vs New Roads	2
03/06/26 vs Wiseburn- Da Vinci	2
03/16/26 @ St. Monica	1
03/10/26 vs Royal	1
+ 2 more games

On the hitting side, Lucas Blackwood and Josiah Reed did most of the damage at the plate: Blackwood went 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI, while Reed went 2-for-4 with one stolen base, one run, and one double. North is undefeated when Blackwood posts two or more runs, but 5-6 otherwise. Alex Cannon was another key player, going 2-for-3 with one run and one double.

North is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 8-6 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.8 runs over those games. As for Peninsula, they are on an eight-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 2-8.

North and Peninsula could both be facing uphill battles in their next games considering their disadvantage in the MaxPreps California Rankings. The Saxons will challenge South at 3:30 p.m. on Friday with a big rank disadvantage (349 vs. 30). Meanwhile, Peninsula (ranked 648th) will meet El Segundo (ranked 107th) at 3:15 p.m. on Friday.