Baseball Game Preview: Alpaugh Buffalos vs. Kings Christian Crusaders

After both having extra time off, the Alpaugh Buffalos and the Kings Christian Crusaders will shake off the rust and duke it out at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday. Alpaugh comes in still looking for their first win of the season.

Alpaugh is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They came up short against Kings Christian back in March, falling 21-4.

For Kings Christian's part, Haiden Kelso made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out six batters over five innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off three hits. That's the most strikeouts Kelso has posted since back in February. He was also big at the plate, getting on base in four of his seven plate appearances with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. He is becoming a predictor of Kings Christian's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 2-1 (and 1-6-1 when he doesn't).

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Caiden Irwin, who got on base in five of his seven plate appearances with one home run, three runs, and three RBI. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in April of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Andrew Ortega, who went 3-for-5 with four runs, two stolen bases, and two RBI.

Kings Christian kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 18 hits. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 5.5 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 matchups they've averaged 10.8.

Alpaugh's loss dropped their record down to 0-6. As for Kings Christian, their defeat was their fourth straight at home, which dropped their record down to 4-8-1.