Albany is 2-8 against Pinole Valley since March of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Wednesday. The Cougars will host the Spartans at 4:00 p.m. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
While Albany's victory against Salesian College Preparatory wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Cougars' pitcher stepped up to hand the Pride a 2-0 shutout on Friday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Cougars.
The result came thanks to Jude Hatamiya's shutout, as he gave up just two hits and racked up 14 Ks. Those 14 strikeouts set a new season-high mark for him.
Cainen Cisneros
| 04/18/25 vs Salesian College Preparatory | 2 |
| 04/16/25 @ Salesian College Preparatory | 1 |
| 04/14/25 @ Archie Williams | 1 |
| 04/04/25 @ De Anza | 1 |
| 03/28/25 @ Bethel | 1 |
At the plate, Albany saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Cainen Cisneros, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with one stolen base and one RBI. Those two hits gave Cisneros a new career-high. Another was Dexter Johnson, who got on base in two of his three plate appearances with two stolen bases and one run.
Meanwhile, it was close, but on Friday Pinole Valley sidestepped El Cerrito for a 4-3 win. The Spartans haven't had any issues with the Gauchos recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive victory against them.
Albany pushed their record up to 14-5 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home. They've had to fight for that success though, as they only beat their opponents by an average of 3.5 runs across that stretch. As for Pinole Valley, their victory bumped their record up to 7-9-1.
Albany couldn't quite finish off Pinole Valley when the teams last played back in April of 2024 and fell 6-4. Can the Cougars avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
