The ALA - West Foothills Guardians will challenge the Florence Gophers at 3:45 p.m. on Monday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (ALA - West Foothills 3.8, Florence 3.3) so any runs scored will be well earned.
ALA - West Foothills easily dispatched Highland Prep on Tuesday, but unfortunately both the margin and the ultimate result were a different story in this one. ALA - West Foothills fell just short of River Valley by a score of 6-4 on Friday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest loss the Guardians have suffered since April 15, 2024.
ALA - West Foothills saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Gabe Kellett, who went 2-for-4 with one double and one RBI. That double was Kellett's first of the season.
Meanwhile, Florence had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 3.5 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They walked away with a 10-5 win over the Bears. With that victory, the Gophers brought their scoring average up to 6.2 runs per game.
Adrian Rodriguez made a big impact no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out ten batters over 3.2 innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off three hits. Rodriguez was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
In other batting news, Wyatt Stenson was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 2-for-3. He is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged at least one in each of the last three games he's played. Zane O'Rourke was another key player, going 1-for-3 with two RBI.
Florence was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .385. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .344 or higher in three consecutive contests.
Florence's win bumped their record up to 9-3. As for ALA - West Foothills, their defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 7-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. ALA - West Foothills has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.4 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Florence struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 9.2 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
