The Lawndale Cardinals will challenge the Beverly Hills Normans at 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Lawndale sitting on three straight wins and Beverly Hills on four.
Last Thursday, Lawndale made easy work of Centennial and carried off a 14-2 victory. Considering the Cardinals have won nine games by more than seven runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Christian Lopez and Seth Alex Rodriguez made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Lopez pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Meanwhile, Rodriguez tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Lopez has been consistent : he hasn't given up more than two hits in six consecutive appearances. At bat, Lopez scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances, while Rodriguez went 2-for-3 with one home run, three runs, and three RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Blake Maldonado, who scored two runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Jovany Damien Nunez, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 3-for-3.
Meanwhile, Beverly Hills earned a 5-2 win over St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy on Friday.
Joe Rendon and Cameron Park did most of the damage at the plate: Rendon scored a run while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances, while Park scored a run while going 2-for-4. Another player making a difference was Race Findley, who scored a run while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Beverly Hills pushed their record up to 4-7-1 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.7 runs on average over those games. As for Lawndale, their victory bumped their record up to 12-4.
Everything went Lawndale's way against Beverly Hills in their previous meeting back in February of 2023, as Lawndale made off with a 17-1 win. Do the Cardinals have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Normans turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
