The Watsonville Wildcatz will face off against the St. Monica Mariners at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Watsonville sitting on nine straight victories and St. Monica on three.
Watsonville is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Seaside a 22-0 shutout on Thursday. Considering the Wildcatz have won seven matches by more than nine runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Mathew Silva
| 04/17/25 @ Seaside | 9 |
| 04/09/25 vs Marina | 8 |
| 04/05/25 @ Silver Creek | 3 |
| 03/18/25 @ Alisal | 3 |
| 03/04/25 vs Gilroy | 3 |
Mathew Silva made a splash while hitting and pitching. He didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out nine over five innings pitched. Those nine strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also stellar in the batter's box, getting on base in five of his six plate appearances with three runs and three RBI. He is becoming a predictor of Watsonville's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 5-9 when he doesn't).
In other batting news, Ben Miller was a standout: he went a perfect 2-for-2 with four RBI and two runs. He has become a key player for Watsonville: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 4-9 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Rudy Valdez, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with three runs and one RBI.
Watsonville kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in ten consecutive games.
Meanwhile, St. Monica beat Aptos 6-2 on Wednesday.
Joey Parra was excellent, going 1-for-3 with one home run. Another player making a difference was Nick Wisot, who went 2-for-4 with one run and one double.
Watsonville's win was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 9-9. The road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 15.6 runs over those games. As for St. Monica, their win bumped their record up to 9-11.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Friday as neither team is afraid to steal. Watsonville has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 5.8 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like St. Monica struggles in that department as they've been averaging 2.6 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.
