The West Valley Eagles will face off against the Deer Park Stags at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Deer Park's hitters are going to have their work cut out for them on Wednesday: West Valley hadn't allowed a single run the last three times they've hit the field. The Eagles' pitcher stepped up to hand Pullman a 10-0 shutout on Saturday. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last five times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.
Noah Clouse was incredible, going 1-for-2 with two stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI. Those stolen bases were his first of the season. The team also got some help courtesy of Carson Gaumer, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with two RBI and one run.
West Valley always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .560. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Pullman only posted an OBP of .222.
Meanwhile, Deer Park got the win against East Valley on Friday by a conclusive 10-1.
Robb Hunter made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run over seven innings pitched. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (four). He was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Ian Olietti, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI. He is becoming a predictor of Deer Park's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 2-8 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Ezekiel Callaham, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI.
West Valley's win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-2. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.8 runs on average over those games. As for Deer Park, they now have a winning record of 9-8.
West Valley got the 'W' in their previous meeting back in March against Deer Park by a conclusive 14-2 score. Do the Eagles have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Stags turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
