Baseball Preview: Santaluces Chiefs vs. Leonard Lancers
Santaluces is 8-2 against Leonard since March of 2018, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Santaluces Chiefs will be staying on the road to face off against the Leonard Lancers at 6:30 p.m.
On Tuesday, it was a hard-fought match, but Santaluces had to settle for a 6-5 loss against Spanish River.
Edinson Cantillo put in work while hitting and pitching. He struck out seven batters over six innings while giving up three earned (and two unearned) runs off six hits (and only one walk). Cantillo has been consistent recently: he hasn't pitched less than five innings in five consecutive pitching appearances. Cantillo was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while getting on base in three of his six plate appearances.
In other batting news, Daniel Vargas made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in four of his six plate appearances. Samir Hurtado was another key contributor, scoring a run while getting on base in four of his six plate appearances.
Even though they lost, Santaluces didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with 15 strikeouts. That's the most strikeouts they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Leonard put the finishing touches on their fourth blowout victory of the season on Tuesday. They put the hurt on Berean Christian with a sharp 13-3 win. The high-scoring effort was just what Leonard needed considering they were shutout in their previous game.
Like Santaluces, Leonard also got a great game from a two-way player: Guillermo Vazquez-Martinez. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out nine batters over four innings while giving up three earned runs off five hits (and only one walk). Vazquez-Martinez was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
In other batting news, Steven Montes de Oca Napoles was a standout: he scored four runs and stole seven bases while going 3-for-3. Another player making a difference was Victor Garcia-Gosling, who scored two runs and stole four bases while going 2-for-2.
Santaluces' defeat dropped their record down to 5-9. As for Leonard, they now have a winning record of 4-3.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Santaluces has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Leonard struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.7. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Santaluces beat Leonard 6-3 when the teams last played back in April of 2023. The rematch might be a little tougher for Santaluces since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
