Baseball Preview: Venture Academy Mustangs vs. Big Valley Christian Lions
Venture Academy and Big Valley Christian are an even 5-5 against one another since March of 2017, but likely not for long. The Venture Academy Mustangs will look to defend their home field on Tuesday against the Big Valley Christian Lions at 4:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Venture Academy had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 20 runs), and they went ahead and made it four on Saturday. They were the clear victor by a 12-2 margin over the Dragons.
Isaac Stewart and Alexander Wolf-Gallegos made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Stewart struck out six batters over two innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit (and only one walk). Meanwhile, Wolf-Gallegos didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit while striking out 11 over five innings pitched. At bat, Stewart scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-3, while Wolf-Gallegos scored a run while going 3-for-4.
In other batting news, Venture Academy let Xavier Perez and Omarion Walker loose on the outfield. Perez scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances, while Walker scored three runs and stole two bases while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Big Valley Christian had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 10.5 runs), and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. Everything went their way against the Falcons as they made off with a 14-7 victory. With that win, Big Valley Christian brought their scoring average up to 6.8 runs per game.
Like Venture Academy, Big Valley Christian also got a great game from a two-way player: Jackson Howell. He struck out nine batters over four innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off four hits. Howell has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in three consecutive pitching appearances. Howell was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-5 with three RBI, two runs, and a triple.
In other batting news, Brady Heinrich was excellent, scoring a run while going 2-for-4. Another player making a difference was Cohen Paddack, who scored two runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Venture Academy has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games, which provided a massive bump to their 6-7 record this season. As for Big Valley Christian, the victory got them back to even at 5-5.
Big Valley Christian's pitching crew has a tough task ahead of them: Venture Academy hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .348. It's a different story for Big Valley Christian, though, as they've only averaged .222. Will they be able to contain Venture Academy's hitters?
Venture Academy skirted past Big Valley Christian 3-1 when the teams last played back in April of 2023. Does Venture Academy have another victory up their sleeve, or will Big Valley Christian turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
