The Junipero Serra Padres will challenge the St. Ignatius College Preparatory Wildcats at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Junipero Serra 2.6, St. Ignatius College Preparatory 1.9) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Junipero Serra's usually-dominant pitching crew will be looking to make up for Friday's struggle, when Valley Christian hitters got past them. The Padres came up short against the Warriors on Friday, falling 10-4.
Tyler Harrison made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went a perfect 1-for-1 with one home run and two RBI. That home run was his first of the season.
Meanwhile, St. Ignatius College Preparatory waltzed into their game on Friday with five straight wins... but they left with six. They walked away with a 5-2 win over the Monarchs.
Eddie McCartney and Spencer Guido dominated on the mound. McCartney tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits, while Guido pitched three innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. McCartney has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two hits any time he's pitched this season.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Archer Horn, who scored a run and stole two bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Ryan Rosenthal, who scored a run while going 1-for-2.
St. Ignatius College Preparatory's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 8-2-2. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.7 runs on average over those games. As for Junipero Serra, their loss dropped their record down to 12-2.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Saturday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Junipero Serra has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.4 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like St. Ignatius College Preparatory struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 8.6 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Junipero Serra couldn't quite finish off St. Ignatius College Preparatory when the teams last played back in May of 2024 and fell 2-0. Can the Padres avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
