Baseball Game Preview: Santa Fe Raiders vs. Vanguard Knights

Santa Fe is a perfect 3-0 against Vanguard since March of 2022 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Thursday. The Santa Fe Raiders are packing up and heading out on the road for their first away game this season. they will square off against the Vanguard Knights at 6:30 p.m. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.

Santa Fe is headed out to face Vanguard after opening their season at home and giving their fans just what they were looking for. Santa Fe narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past Dunnellon 2-1.

Brody Rou

Batters Struck Out (Career)

02/11/25 vs Dunnellon	3
04/23/24 @ Dixie County	1
04/09/24 vs Columbia	1
03/19/24 @ North Marion	1
02/27/24 @ Columbia	1

Brody Rou looked comfortable as he pitched 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (three).

At the plate, Santa Fe's victory was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Caleb Kietzman, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.

Meanwhile, Vanguard sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 3-1 win over Leesburg on Tuesday. The Knights haven't had any issues with the Yellow Jackets recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive victory against them.

Santa Fe skirted past Vanguard 9-8 when the teams last played back in February of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for Santa Fe since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.