The Ballard Beavers will challenge West Seattle at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Ballard 2.6, West Seattle 3.1) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Ballard is probably headed into the matchup with a chip on their shoulder considering Lakeside just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Wednesday. They fell just short of the Lions by a score of 5-3. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest loss the Beavers have suffered against the Lions since May 10, 2021.
Aiden DePaula was huge while hitting and pitching even without the win. On the mound, he tossed four innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in five consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with one triple, one run, and one RBI. That triple was his first of the season.
DePaula wasn't the only one making solid contact as three players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Danny DiMarco, who went 1-for-2 with one double and one RBI.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for West Seattle, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Monday. They came out on top against Nathan Hale by a score of 9-5 on Wednesday. West Seattle hasn't had any issues with Nathan Hale recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive win against them.
West Seattle pushed their record up to 11-5 with the victory, which was their eighth straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Ballard, their defeat dropped their record down to 12-5.
Ballard suffered a grim 7-1 defeat to West Seattle when the teams last played back in May of 2024. Can the Beavers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
