Baseball Game Preview: Benjamin Franklin Chargers vs. ALA - Ironwood Warriors

The Benjamin Franklin Chargers will venture away from home to square off against the ALA - Ironwood Warriors at 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday. Benjamin Franklin knows how to get runs on the board -- the squad has finished with ten runs or more in their past three matchups -- so hopefully ALA - Ironwood likes a good challenge.

Benjamin Franklin's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Monday. They blew past San Tan Foothills 14-0. The Chargers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven games by six runs or more this season.

Paolo Baca

Batters Struck Out (Career)

04/21/25 vs San Tan Foothills	11
03/21/25 @ San Tan Foothills	10
04/03/25 @ Bourgade Catholic	8
04/15/25 @ Payson	5
03/28/25 @ Sabino	5

Paolo Baca made a splash no matter where he played. He kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 11 over five innings pitched. Those 11 strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with one triple, one run, and one RBI. That triple was his first of the season.

In other batting news, Matthew Economou was a standout: he went 3-for-4 with two triples, two runs, and two RBI. Those two triples gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Darren Billingsley, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with three runs, two RBI, and one double.

Benjamin Franklin always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .562. They are 5-1 when they post an OBP of .513 or better.

Meanwhile, ALA - Ironwood fought the good fight in their extra-innings matchup against Apache Junction on Monday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Prospectors by a score of 4-3. The Warriors have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

ALA - Ironwood saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jackson Watson, who went 1-for-2 with one triple and two RBI. Dennis Ricci was another, going 2-for-3 with one run and one double.

ALA - Ironwood's defeat dropped their record down to 4-15. As for Benjamin Franklin, their record is now 11-9-1.

Benjamin Franklin took their win against ALA - Ironwood in their previous meeting back in March by a conclusive 9-1 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Chargers since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.