Baseball Game Preview: Clairemont Chieftains vs. University City Centurions

The Clairemont Chieftains will head out to face off against the University City Centurions at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Clairemont is coming into the contest hot, having won their last six games.

Clairemont took a 14-run loss the last time they faced off against Steele Canyon, but this time they managed to keep it close and that made all the difference. The Chieftains came out on top in a nail-biter against the Cougars on Monday, sneaking past 6-5.

Diego Matsumoto

Hits (Career)

04/21/25 vs Steele Canyon	3
04/17/25 @ Morse	2
04/11/25 vs Imperial	2
02/27/25 vs Castle Park	2
03/27/24 @ Mater Dei Catholic	2

Clairemont's win was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Diego Matsumoto, who went 3-for-4 with two RBI. Those three hits gave Matsumoto a new career-high. Another was Brendan Weiss, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs.

Meanwhile, University City had to endure a five-game losing streak, but that streak is no more. Their pitchers stepped up to hand Point Loma a 3-0 shutout on Tuesday.

Clairemont pushed their record up to 13-5 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.5 runs over those games. As for University City, their victory bumped their record up to 11-7.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Clairemont has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 10.1 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like University City struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 8.2 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.

Clairemont was able to grind out a solid win over University City when the teams last played back in May of 2022, winning 4-1. Will the Chieftains repeat their success, or do the Centurions have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.