The St. Mary's Rams will challenge the Central Valley Hawks at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with St. Mary's sitting on seven straight victories and Central Valley on three.
St. Mary's is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They never let Tokay get on the board and left with an 11-0 win. Considering the Rams have won 14 matchups by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
St. Mary's got a great performance from Nico Bavaro as he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out eight over five innings pitched. Bavaro has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in seven consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Dawson Labarthe, who went 3-for-4 with one home run, three runs, and three RBI. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Dax Hardcastle, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two runs and one stolen base.
St. Mary's was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .609. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .318 or higher in six consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Central Valley had just enough and edged out Lincoln 3-2 on Wednesday. That's two games straight that the Hawks have won by just one run.
Tyson Hunt spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned (and one unearned) run on eight hits.
At the plate, Central Valley's victory was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Adrian Vega, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI. Ezequiel Verduzco was another, going 1-for-3 with one run and one RBI.
St. Mary's win bumped their record up to 23-5. As for Central Valley, their victory bumped their record up to 21-8.
Friday's game might come down to which pitcher can control the ball better. St. Mary's has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .484. However, it's not like Central Valley struggles in that department as they've averaged .437. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
St. Mary's came out on top in a nail-biter against Central Valley in their previous meeting back in May of 2025, sneaking past 4-2. Will the Rams repeat their success, or do the Hawks have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
