Baseball Game Preview: Santa Cruz Valley Dust Devils vs. Lincoln Prep Lightning

The Santa Cruz Valley Dust Devils will head out to face off against the Lincoln Prep Lightning at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are strolling into their matches after big wins in their previous games.

Lincoln Prep will be up against a hot Santa Cruz Valley team: the squad just extended their winning streak to four. Santa Cruz Valley put the hurt on ALA - Anthem South with a sharp 18-1 victory on Wednesday. The result was nothing new for the Dust Devils, who have now won four games by ten runs or more so far this season.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Lincoln Prep). They blew past North Valley Christian Academy 16-5 on Wednesday. The team's explosion at the plate also rewarded the Lightning with their most commanding win of the season.

Finn Dilley made a big impact no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out 13 batters over five innings while giving up five earned runs off seven hits. He is becoming a predictor of Lincoln Prep's success: when he posts at least eight strikeouts the team is undefeated (and 0-5-1 when he doesn't). Dilley was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 4-for-5. What's more, he posted two doubles, the most he's had since back in May of 2024.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Jackson Platt, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI and one double. That's the most hits he has posted since back in April of 2024. Asher Smith also deserves some recognition as he scored his first runs of the season.

Lincoln Prep always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .564. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.

The win made it two in a row for Lincoln Prep and bumps their season record up to 3-5-1. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to hits: they averaged an imposing 12.5 hits in those games compared to only 3.71 in the others. As for Santa Cruz Valley, their victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-4.