It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Western International had no problem doing just that on Thursday. Everything went their way against the King Crusaders as they made off with a 17-1 victory. That's the third time they've managed to beat them this season, with their most recent win being a 12-0 victory last Wednesday.
Johnnie Salazar looked comfortable as he struck out ten batters over four innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits (and only one walk). That's the most strikeouts he has posted over his last three contests.
Oscar Marquez
| 05/15/25 vs King | 3 |
| 04/06/24 @ Anderson | 2 |
| 05/07/25 vs King | 1 |
| 05/02/25 @ Renaissance | 1 |
| 04/25/25 @ King | 1 |
On the hitting side, Western International got a massive performance out of Oscar Marquez, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with two stolen bases, three RBI, and one run. Those three hits gave Marquez a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Justin Diaz, who went 2-for-3 with three runs, one stolen base, and one RBI.
Western International was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .556. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .320 or higher in three consecutive matchups.
Western International has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games. That's provided a nice bump to their 19-7-2 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.7 runs on average over those games. As for King, they are on a four-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 3-7-1.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Western International will venture away from home to challenge West Bloomfield at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. As for King, they will head out to face off against Groves at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
