Baseball Game Preview: Sonora Raiders vs. South Spartans

The Sonora Raiders will challenge the South Spartans at 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.

Sonora is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They came out on top against Linfield Christian by a score of 3-2 (the very same score they lost by in their prior game).

Caleb Orr made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with one run and one double.

In other pitching news, Sonora got a great performance from Robby Blaine as he pitched five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off three hits. Blaine is becoming a predictor of the Raiders' success: when he allows at most one earned run the team is 8-1 (and 9-11 when he doesn't).

Luke Crowder

Runs Batted In (Career)

05/16/25 @ Linfield Christian	2
05/03/25 vs South Gate	1
04/09/25 vs Sunny Hills	1
02/26/25 vs El Toro	1
04/12/24 @ Fullerton	1

Orr wasn't the only one making solid contact as four players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Luke Crowder, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two RBI. Those two RBI gave Crowder a new career-high.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for South, who bounced back after a loss on the road two weeks ago. They never let Culver City get on the board and left with a 2-0 win on Friday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Spartans have posted since April 4th.

South pushed their record up to 16-13 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home. The home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.0 runs over those games. As for Sonora, their win bumped their record up to 17-12.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Sonora has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like South struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.1 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 match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other baseball content.