Baseball Game Preview: Mesa Jackrabbits vs. Casteel Colts

The Mesa Jackrabbits will challenge the Casteel Colts at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Having struggled with four losses in a row, Mesa turned things around against Maricopa last Wednesday. They never let the Rams get on the board and left with a 10-0 victory. The game was the first time the Jackrabbits have beaten the Rams on their field since February 28, 2020.

Sam Babalola and Chase Gilmore did most of the damage at the plate: Babalola scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-3, while Gilmore scored two runs while going 1-for-3. The dominant performance also gave Babalola a new career-high in RBI (two). Another player making a difference was Anthony Ruelas, who scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances.

Meanwhile, Casteel was able to grind out a solid win over Horizon on Wednesday, taking the game 8-3. The Colts haven't had any issues with the Huskies recently, as the game was their third consecutive victory against them.

Cayden Hokanson looked comfortable as he tossed 3.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit.

On the hitting side, Casteel let Taylor Dodd and Logan Reber run wild. Dodd scored two runs while going 2-for-2, while Reber went 2-for-3 with two doubles and one RBI. Those hits marked the first that Dodd got this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Jace Diaz, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4.

Casteel pushed their record up to 7-3 with the win, which was their 13th straight at home dating back to last season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.4 runs over those games. As for Mesa, their victory bumped their record up to 2-8.