The Menlo-Atherton Bears will challenge the Burlingame Panthers at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The last four games Menlo-Atherton has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.
For whatever reason, it's the away team that's had the advantage when Menlo-Atherton and King's Academy meet (six straight games heading into this one) and that held true again on Friday. The Bears came out on top against the Knights by a score of 5-4 (the very same score they lost by in their prior game).
Jimmy Zaharias
| 05/02/25 @ King's Academy | 3 |
| 04/23/25 vs Sequoia | 2 |
| 03/28/25 @ Sacred Heart Prep | 2 |
| 02/27/25 vs Scotts Valley | 2 |
| 04/11/25 vs Pioneer | 1 |
Jimmy Zaharias made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing 1.2 innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (three). He was also big at the plate, going 1-for-4 with one home run.
In other pitching news, Wes Peterson looked comfortable as he pitched four innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off two hits.
Back at the plate, Ryder Kelly was incredible, going 1-for-3 with one home run and two RBI. Gianni Olivero was another key player, going 1-for-2 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.
Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Burlingame duked it out with Santa Cruz on Saturday. The Panthers came out on top in a nail-biter against the Cardinals, sneaking past 8-6. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Panthers have posted since April 5th.
Liam Philibosian and Slade Flores did most of the damage at the plate: Philibosian went 1-for-3 with one home run, while Flores went 2-for-3 with two RBI, one run, and one double. That home run was Philibosian's first of the season. Another player making a difference was Michael Vargas, who went 2-for-3 with two runs.
Menlo-Atherton has been performing well recently as they've won 11 of their last 14 games. That's provided a nice bump to their 16-7 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.5 runs on average over those games. As for Burlingame, their victory bumped their record up to 10-12.
Menlo-Atherton came out on top in a nail-biter against Burlingame in their previous matchup back in April of 2024, sneaking past 2-1. Will the Bears repeat their success, or do the Panthers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
