Santaluces hasn't had much luck against American Heritage recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Santaluces Chiefs will head out to take on the American Heritage Stallions at 6:30 p.m. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Santaluces is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. Everything went their way against Lake Worth on Tuesday as Santaluces made off with a 23-1 win. The victory continues a trend for the Chiefs in their matchups with the Trojans: they've now won six in a row.
Daniel Vargas was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Vargas was also big at the plate, scoring three runs and stealing a base while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. Those runs were his first of the season.
In other pitching news, Giovanni Ferguson looked comfortable as he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits.
Back at the plate, the team relied heavily on Ryan Giel, who scored four runs while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. The team also got some help courtesy of Ramyl Guzman, who scored three runs while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.
Santaluces was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .381. The last time their batting average was this high was back in April of 2024.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for American Heritage, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Thursday. They walked away with a 4-0 win over Boca Raton on Tuesday.
Not much got past Noah Garfinkel, who gave up just two hits and racked up six Ks to keep Boca Raton off the board. Garfinkel has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two hits every time he's pitched this season.
On the hitting side, Matt Pace was excellent, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-2. Carlos Jimenez was another key player, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.
Santaluces' first victory this season bumped their record up to 1-4. As for American Heritage, their win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 3-1.
Santaluces couldn't quite finish off American Heritage when the teams last played back in February of 2023 and fell 3-1. Can Santaluces avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
