Baseball Preview: West Valley Wolf Pack vs. North Pole Patriots
The West Valley Wolf Pack will head out on the road to take on the North Pole Patriots at 1:15 p.m. on Saturday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
West Valley is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Alaska's top teams: Hutchison, who was ranked 25th in their home state at the time (West Valley was ranked eighth). West Valley never let Hutchison onto the board and left with a 15-0 victory on Wednesday. West Valley's hitters stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most runs they've scored all season.
Meanwhile, the third road matchup was the charm for North Pole, as they earned their first road win of the season. They blew past Monroe Catholic 18-0. For those curious, yes, that was the biggest win North Pole has managed all season.
Caleb Korhonen made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out 11 over five innings pitched. Korhonen was also stellar in the batter's box, getting on base in three of his five plate appearances with three runs, three RBI, and a triple.
In other batting news, North Pole let Ryan Martinez and Pavel Kostov loose on the outfield. Martinez scored four runs and stole three bases while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances, while Kostov scored two runs and stole three bases while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. Martinez has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last seven times he's played. Another player making a difference was Olan Tucker, who went 1-for-4 with four RBI, a triple, and a run.
The victory (which was West Valley's third in a row) raised their record to 4-2-1. As for North Pole, they now have a winning record of 6-5-2.
West Valley came out on top in a nail-biter against North Pole in their previous meeting back in May of 2023, sneaking past 5-3. Will West Valley repeat their success, or does North Pole have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
