Baseball Game Preview: Valley Christian Warriors vs. Aquinas Falcons

The Valley Christian Warriors will challenge the Aquinas Falcons at 1:30 p.m. on Monday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Valley Christian comes in on four and Aquinas on ten.

Valley Christian barely beat Archbishop Riordan the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Warriors were the clear victors by a 7-1 margin over the Crusaders on Friday. Considering the Warriors have won five games by more than five runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.

Kole Laubach looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run over four innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Valley Christian's victory was truly a team effort as seven different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Brock Ketelsen, who fired off two home runs and three runs while going 3-for-4. That's the most hits Ketelsen has posted since back in May of 2024. Christian Navarez was another, scoring two runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.

Meanwhile, Aquinas beat Woodcrest Christian 7-2 on Saturday.

Estaban Olazaba was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing three bases while going 2-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Chase Davidson, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-2.

Aquinas hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their strikeout total in three consecutive matchups.

Aquinas' win was their ninth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 15-1. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.8 runs on average over those games. As for Valley Christian, their win bumped their record up to 12-4.

Valley Christian came out on top in a nail-biter against Aquinas in their previous matchup back in March of 2024, sneaking past 3-1. Do the Warriors have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Falcons turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.