Preview: Cabrillo Conquistadores vs. St. Joseph Knights
The Cabrillo Conquistadores will head out on the road to face off against the St. Joseph Knights at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Cabrillo sitting on nine straight victories and St. Joseph on four.
Cabrillo put the finishing touches on their third blowout victory of the season on Wednesday. They were the clear victor by an 11-1 margin over Atascadero.
Spencer Gallimore made a big impact no matter where he played. He struck out ten batters over six innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits (and only one walk). Gallimore was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring two runs while going 3-for-4.
In other batting news, Blake Gregory was incredible, scoring three runs and stealing two bases while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.
St. Joseph proved they can win big on Friday (they won by 15) but on Wednesday they proved they can win the close ones too. They had just enough and edged Righetti out 5-3.
Hunter Hammond spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just two earned (and one unearned) runs on seven hits and racked up seven Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't pitched less than five innings in three consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Niko Peinado, who scored two runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. The team also got some help courtesy of Aj Stollberg, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4.
Cabrillo pushed their record up to 9-0 with that win, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season. As for St. Joseph, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 7-5 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Cabrillo has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 11.4 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like St. Joseph struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.2 per game. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Cabrillo skirted past St. Joseph 2-1 when the teams last played back in May of 2023. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was St. Joseph's Omar Reynoso, who didn't allow a single earned run while striking out nine over nine innings pitched. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be that much easier for Cabrillo to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
