The Los Gatos Wildcats will square off against the Palo Alto Vikings at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Los Gatos will be looking to extend their current four-game winning streak.
Los Gatos barely beat Mountain View the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Wildcats put the hurt on the Spartans with a sharp 9-3 win last Friday.
Gavin Seiler looked comfortable as he pitched four innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (three).
On the hitting side, Brayden Smith was a standout: he scored two runs and stole three bases while going 1-for-2. That's the most runs he has posted since back in May of 2024. Julian McMahon was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-2.
Meanwhile, after soaring to 15 runs the game before, Palo Alto was a bit more limited in their game on Saturday. They took a 6-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of Archbishop Riordan.
Palo Alto also got a good showing from William Hickey, who pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Hickey has become a key player for the Vikings: the team is 2-1 when he allows at most two hits, but 3-8 otherwise.
At the plate, Palo Alto saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Carter Bader, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base. That stolen base marked the first that Bader snagged this season.
Los Gatos' victory was their 14th straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 11-3. Those road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they've averaged 9.7 runs this season. As for Palo Alto, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-9.
Palo Alto's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Wednesday. Los Gatos has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.4 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Palo Alto, though, as they've been averaging only 3.6 strikeouts. Will Los Gatos keep running through batters, or will the Vikings buck the trend?
Los Gatos skirted past Palo Alto 4-3 in their previous meeting back in March of 2024. Do the Wildcats have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Vikings turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
