Baseball Preview: Encinal Jets vs. Alhambra Bulldogs
Encinal has enjoyed the comforts of home their last six games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will take on the Alhambra Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Encinal is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They came out on top against Archie Williams by a score of 8-5.
The team relied heavily on Leo Paredes, who scored two runs and stole three bases while going 3-for-3. Eric Proctor was another key contributor, scoring two runs while going 1-for-2.
Meanwhile, Alhambra had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 5 runs), and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. They had just enough and edged the Loggers out 2-0. That's two games straight that Alhambra has won by exactly two runs.
Eureka's batters probably weren't too happy with Jakob Poole, who pitched a no hitter and racked up ten Ks (he gave up two walks). Poole has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't pitched less than five innings in five consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Nate Liddicoat, who scored a run and stole three bases while going 2-for-2. Another player making a difference was Daniel Polasek, who went 1-for-3 with a triple, a run, and an RBI.
Encinal's victory was their ninth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 19-7. As for Alhambra, they are on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last nine games, which provided a nice bump to their 15-10 record this season.
Alhambra's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Encinal has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .459. It's a different story for Alhambra, though, as they've only averaged .358. Will they be able to contain Encinal's hitters?
Encinal came up short against Alhambra when the teams last played back in February of 2020, falling 4-0. Can Encinal avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
