The Alameda Pirates will take on the Fort Lupton Bluedevils at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Alameda will be looking to extend their current 12-game winning streak.
Alameda barely beat Englewood the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. Alameda blew past Englewood 13-1 on Monday. Alameda might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 13 contests by eight runs or more this season.
Ivan Baca made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out 13 batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit. Baca was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with three RBI, one run, and one double.
In other batting news, Alameda got a massive performance out of Alan Chairez, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with one home run, three runs, and three RBI. That's the most RBI Chairez has posted since back in March. Cesar H was another key player, going 2-for-3 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs.
Alameda was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .583. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .320 or higher in 12 consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Fort Lupton fought the good fight in their extra-innings match against Arvada on Wednesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Bulldogs by a score of 8-7.
Like Alameda, Fort Lupton also got a great game from a two-way player: Jesse Ceretto. He pitched three innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit. Fort Lupton is 2-1 when Ceretto allows two or fewer hits, but 4-7 otherwise. Ceretto was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with two runs and one double.
Ceretto wasn't the only one making solid contact as four players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Javier Ortiz, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with three runs, one triple, and one stolen base. Ortiz is becoming a predictor of Fort Lupton's success: when he posts at least three hits the team is 3-1 (and 3-7 when he doesn't). Another was Julian Arreguin, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base and one run.
Alameda pushed their record up to 14-2 with the win, which was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season. Those home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 14.2 runs over those games. As for Fort Lupton, their loss dropped their record down to 6-8.
Both Alameda and Fort Lupton just can't seem to miss. The Pirates have been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 11.2 hits per game. However, it's not like Fort Lupton struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 4.8 hits. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Alameda suffered a grim 17-3 defeat to Fort Lupton in their previous matchup back in May of 2019. Can the Pirates avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
