Baseball Game Preview: Fountain Valley Barons vs. Newport Harbor Sailors

For the second straight game, Fountain Valley will face off against Newport Harbor. The Barons will face off against the Sailors at 3:15 p.m. on Friday. The last three games Fountain Valley has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.

Fountain Valley fought the good fight in their extra-innings contest against Newport Harbor on Wednesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Sailors by a score of 10-9. The pitching woes were uncharacteristic for the Barons, who until this match were averaging 3.42 runs allowed.

Josh Grack put in work while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he pitched four innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, scoring a run while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.

In other batting news, Miles Hiskey made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 1-for-4 with one home run and three runs. That home run was his first of the season. Another player making a difference was Ethan Cortez, who scored a run while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.

The victory was the fifth in a row for Newport Harbor, bringing their record up to 16-5. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.6 runs on average over those games. As for Fountain Valley, their defeat ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 11-8.