The Veritas Prep Falcons will head out to square off against the Arizona Lutheran Academy Coyotes at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Veritas Prep's pitching crew has only allowed 3.8 runs per game this season, so Arizona Lutheran Academy's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Veritas Prep is headed into the contest having just posted their closest victory since February 27th on Monday. They skirted past Phoenix Country Day 3-2.
Camden Palmquist looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit over four innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in seven consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Veritas Prep saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Baylor Arnold, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, Arizona Lutheran Academy made easy work of Santa Cruz Valley on Monday and carried off a 15-2 win. Considering the Coyotes have won eight matchups by more than five runs this season, Monday's blowout was nothing new.
Eric Urbieta and Rafael Guerrero made a splash no matter where they played. On the mound, Urbieta pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Meanwhile, Guerrero didn't allow a single earned run while striking out eight over five innings pitched. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Arizona Lutheran Academy is 3-1 when he allows at most two earned runs, but 6-8 otherwise. At bat, Urbieta scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances, while Guerrero scored a run while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Owen Beilke, who went 3-for-5 with two runs, two doubles, and one triple. He is becoming a predictor of Arizona Lutheran Academy's success: when he posts at least three hits the team is undefeated (and 6-9 when he doesn't). Rafael Soriano also deserves some recognition as he scored his first runs of the season.
Arizona Lutheran Academy is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games. That's provided a nice bump to their 9-9 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.7 runs on average over those games. As for Veritas Prep, the win got them back to even at 6-6.
Veritas Prep was able to grind out a solid victory over Arizona Lutheran Academy in their previous meeting two weeks ago, winning 7-4. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Falcons since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
