The Cate Rams are taking a road trip to face off against the Ojai Valley Spuds on Thursday. Cate will be looking to extend their current five-game winning streak.
Last Thursday, Cate was able to grind out a solid victory over Villanova Prep, taking the game 6-1.
Peter Lehman
| 04/10/25 vs Villanova Prep | 14 |
| 04/03/25 @ Santa Clara | 15 |
| 03/28/25 vs Dunn | 9 |
| 03/22/25 vs Academy of Careers & Exploration | 8 |
Peter Lehman spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on zero hits and racked up 14 Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than eight strikeouts in four consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Noah Casbarro was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-2. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last four times he's played. Shogo Hayashi also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.
Meanwhile, Ojai Valley entered their tilt with Hillcrest Christian on Tuesday with three consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with four. They were the clear victors by a 20-9 margin over the Saints. Considering the Spuds have won four matchups by more than eight runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Ojai Valley got a massive performance out of Ben Scordamaglia, who scored four runs and stole five bases while going 3-for-4. Scordamaglia has become a key player for the Spuds: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 1-4 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Scotty Hatton, who scored three runs and stole five bases while going 2-for-4.
Ojai Valley kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 14 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in four consecutive games.
Cate's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-3. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.7 runs on average over those games. As for Ojai Valley, they now have a winning record of 5-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Cate has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 10.7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Ojai Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.1 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Everything went Cate's way against Ojai Valley in their previous meeting back in February, as Cate made off with a 9-3 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Rams since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
