Baseball Game Preview: Cross Roads Bobcats vs. Avalon Eagles

The Cross Roads Bobcats will head out on the road to square off against the Avalon Eagles at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Cross Roads will be strutting in after a win while Avalon will be coming in after a defeat.

Cross Roads will roll into the game after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up one run last Tuesday, then bounced right back against Trinidad on Tuesday. The Bobcats blew past the Trojans 13-0. The contest marked the Bobcats' most dominant victory of the season so far.

Meanwhile, Avalon fought the good fight in their extra-innings matchup against Italy on Tuesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Gladiators by a score of 7-6. The Eagles have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

John De La Garza was huge while hitting and pitching even without the win. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out 14 batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off three hits. Avalon is 2-1 when De La Garza posts eight or more strikeouts, but 2-5 otherwise. De La Garza was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with one run, one double, and one RBI. That double was his first of the season.

In other batting news, Josh Novak made the most of his time in the batter's box despite the final result and went 3-for-4 with one run and one RBI. Evan Jacks also deserves some recognition as he got his first hit of the season.

Cross Roads' win bumped their record up to 3-5. As for Avalon, their loss dropped their record down to 4-6.

Cross Roads got the 'W' in their previous meeting back in April of 2022 against Avalon by a conclusive 20-10 score. Do the Bobcats have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Eagles turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.