Baseball Game Preview: Brennan Bears vs. Taft Raiders

For the second straight game, Brennan will face off against Taft. The Bears will welcome the Raiders at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.

Brennan easily dispatched Bracken Christian on Saturday, but unfortunately both the margin and the ultimate result were a different story in this one. The Bears fell just short of Taft by a score of 6-4 on Monday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest defeat the Bears have suffered since February 27th.

For Taft's part, Christopher Arriaga was a major factor no matter where he played. He pitched 6.2 innings while giving up three earned (and one unearned) runs off seven hits. Arriaga was also big at the plate, going 1-for-4 with one home run and three RBI. He has become a key player for Taft: the team is undefeated when he posts at least three RBI, but 9-12 otherwise.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Justin Parks, who went 1-for-3 with one home run and two stolen bases. He is becoming a predictor of Taft's success: when he posts at least two stolen bases the team is undefeated (and 9-12 when he doesn't). Ethan Barrera was another key player, going a perfect 2-for-2 with two RBI and one double.

Taft lost a few balls and finished the game with two home runs. That's the most home runs they've managed all season.

The victory was the third in a row for Taft, bringing their record up to 12-12. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.0 runs on average over those games. As for Brennan, their loss dropped their record down to 15-10.