The Santa Paula Cardinals will venture away from home to take on the Oaks Christian Lions at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. Santa Paula's pitching crew has only allowed 3.3 runs per game this season, so Oaks Christian's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Santa Paula is probably headed into the contest with a chip on their shoulder considering Rio Mesa just ended the team's six-game winning streak on Friday. They fell just short of the Spartans by a score of 6-4. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest loss the Cardinals have suffered since May 3, 2024.
Santa Paula saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Elias Garcia, who went 1-for-3 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
Meanwhile, Oaks Christian sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 5-4 win over Westlake on Thursday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Lions.
Connor Sahagun looked comfortable as he pitched 3.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks any time he's pitched this season.
On the hitting side, Quentin Young was excellent, going a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs and two doubles. Those two doubles gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Joshua Brown, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI.
Oaks Christian hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. The team has now struck out at least five batters in four consecutive games.
Oaks Christian's record now sits at 14-7. As for Santa Paula, their defeat dropped their record down to 12-10.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Santa Paula has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.6 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Oaks Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.7 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 action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
