After both having extra time off, the Animo Leadership Aztec Eagles and the Ojai Valley Spuds will shake off the cobwebs and hit the field against one another at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday.
Saturday just wasn't the day for Animo Leadership's offense. They lost 17-0 to Bishop Montgomery two weeks ago. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest defeat the Aztec Eagles have suffered since March 28th.
Meanwhile, Ojai Valley had already won eight in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 10 runs) and they went ahead and made it nine two weeks ago. They were the clear victors by a 16-3 margin over the Gryphons. The Spuds might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven matchups by nine runs or more this season.
Keiran Walsh was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he tossed three innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off two hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (three). He was also stellar in the batter's box, going a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs, three RBI, and one stolen base. He is on a roll when it comes to RBI, as he's now brought in three or more in each of the last three games he's played.
In other batting news, Jay Galgano and Archer Moller did most of the damage at the plate: Galgano went 3-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and one stolen base, while Moller went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, three runs, and one double. Moller is becoming a predictor of Ojai Valley's success: when he posts at least two stolen bases the team is undefeated (and 3-4 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Renji Hanai, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases, three runs, and one RBI.
Ojai Valley was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .458. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .333 or higher in seven consecutive contests.
Ojai Valley's win was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 10-4. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Animo Leadership, their loss ended a five-game streak of away wins and brought them to 13-13.
