For the first time this season, Bend will have a chance to prove themselves in a conference matchup. They will head out to square off against Caldera at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Neither of those teams managed to put together many runs in their previous contests, so the offenses might be a little more motivated than usual.
Bend is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Oregon's top teams: Wilsonville, who was ranked fifth at the time (Bend was ranked ninth). The Lava Bears lost 7-1 to the Wildcats on Thursday. The game marked the Lava Bears' lowest-scoring matchup so far this season.
Bend saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Will Goodman, who went 1-for-4 with one triple and one run. Kruz Najera also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.
Meanwhile, Caldera came up short against South Salem on Friday and fell 4-1.
Bend's loss ended a five-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 8-3. As for Caldera, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-5.
Bend was able to grind out a solid win over Caldera when the teams last played back in April of 2024, winning 3-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Lava Bears since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
