Baseball Game Preview: North Monterey County Condors vs. Harbor Pirates

North Monterey County is 0-5 against Harbor since March of 2015 but things could change on Thursday. The North Monterey County Condors will square off against the Harbor Pirates at 4:00 p.m. North Monterey County is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7 runs per game this season.

North Monterey County had to skate by with only a one-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the 14-run drubbing they dealt Watsonville on Tuesday. North Monterey County put the hurt on Watsonville with a sharp 17-3 win. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Condors considering their two-run performance the match before.

Leo Cruz was a major factor no matter where he played. He pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two hits in three consecutive appearances. He was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with one home run, five RBI, and two runs. North Monterey County is 2-1 when Cruz posts two or more runs, but 1-2 otherwise.

Brody Nelsen

Runs

03/11/25 vs Watsonville	2
03/06/25 vs Pajaro Valley	2
03/04/25 @ Soledad	2

In other batting news, Brody Nelsen was excellent, scoring two runs while going 1-for-3. He has become a key player for North Monterey County: the team is 2-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 1-2 otherwise. Abraham Martinez also deserves some recognition as he scored his first run of the season.

North Monterey County always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .571. The last time their OBP was this high was back in February of 2024.

Meanwhile, Harbor owes their pitching crew a big pat on the back after their performance on Tuesday. They came out on top against More by a score of 5-0. The Pirates haven't had any issues with the Knights recently, as the game was their third consecutive victory against them.

The win (which was North Monterey County's third in a row) raised their record to 3-3. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Harbor, their record is now 5-1.

North Monterey County couldn't quite finish off Harbor when the teams last played back in March of 2024 and fell 2-0. Can North Monterey County avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.