The Faith Lutheran Crusaders will face off against the Shadow Ridge Mustangs at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Faith Lutheran is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.7 runs per game this season.
Faith Lutheran is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Nevada's top teams: Palo Verde, who was ranked fourth at the time (Faith Lutheran was ranked seventh). The Crusaders narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past the Panthers 9-8. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Crusaders have posted since May 9, 2025.
Macen Collura
| 04/15/26 @ Palo Verde | 4 |
| 04/08/26 vs Arbor View | 3 |
| 05/16/25 vs Reno | 3 |
| 04/23/25 @ Basic | 3 |
| 03/12/25 vs Red Mountain | 3 |
Macen Collura was incredible, going a perfect 4-for-4 with one home run, five RBI, and two runs. Those four hits gave him a new career-high. Rookie Shepard was another key player, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with one run and one RBI.
Faith Lutheran was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .438. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .300 or higher in 11 consecutive games.
Meanwhile, while Shadow Ridge put up plenty of runs on Wednesday, the same can't be said for Las Vegas. The Mustangs put the hurt on the Wildcats with a sharp 12-0 win. That 12-run margin sets a new team best for the Mustangs this season.
Shadow Ridge also got a great performance from Bryce Judd as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit over five innings pitched.
At the plate, Evan Noble was a standout: he went 2-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Oliver Schoppmann, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases, three runs, and one RBI.
Faith Lutheran's victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 14-10. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.5 runs on average over those games. As for Shadow Ridge, their victory bumped their record up to 9-14.
Faith Lutheran came out on top in a nail-biter against Shadow Ridge in their previous meeting back in March of 2024, sneaking past 7-5. Do the Crusaders have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Mustangs turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
