The St. Helena Saints will face off against the Clear Lake Cardinals at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams are strolling into their contests after big wins in their previous games.
St. Helena is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They were the clear victors by an 11-1 margin over Upper Lake on Friday. The win was familiar territory for the Saints, who have now won three matches in a row.
Xander Kelperis
| 04/18/25 @ Upper Lake | 1 |
| 04/01/25 vs Cloverdale | 1 |
| 03/04/25 vs Pierce | 0 |
Xander Kelperis made a big impact no matter where he played. He struck out six batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, earning one RBI, two runs, and one stolen base. Those two runs gave him a new career-high.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Sam Beck, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with two stolen bases, three runs, and three RBI. Those three RBI gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Julian Earls, who went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, four RBI, and one run.
St. Helena hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their strikeout total in three consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Clear Lake got the win against Middletown on Friday by a conclusive 11-1. The result was nothing new for the Cardinals, who have now won four contests by six runs or more so far this season.
Clear Lake let Jesse Hayes and Johnny Gonzales Jr run wild. Hayes got on base in all four of his plate appearances with four stolen bases, three runs, and one RBI, while Gonzales Jr went a perfect 4-for-4 with two stolen bases, three RBI, and two runs. Another player making a difference was Ryken Villanueva, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.
Clear Lake has been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 9-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.6 runs on average over those games. As for St. Helena, their win bumped their record up to 13-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. St. Helena has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.5 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Clear Lake struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.9 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
St. Helena couldn't quite finish off Clear Lake when the teams last played back in March and fell 6-4. Will the Saints have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.
