The De La Salle Spartans will challenge the Junipero Serra Padres at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. De La Salle is coming into the game hot, having won their last six games.
De La Salle is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They never let St. Mary's get on the board and left with a 3-0 victory.
The result came thanks to Graham Schlicht's shutout, as he gave up just four hits and racked up nine Ks.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Antonio Castro, who went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, two RBI, and one double. The team also got some help courtesy of Niko Baumgartner, who went 1-for-2 with two stolen bases and one run.
Meanwhile, Junipero Serra came tearing into Thursday's matchup with four straight wins , and they left with even more momentum. They came out on top against the Wildcats by a score of 3-0.
Not much got past Nate Hui, who gave up just seven hits to keep Los Gatos off the board. Hui has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up a single earned run in six consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Tyler Harrison was excellent, going 1-for-2 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.
De La Salle's win was their 13th straight at home, which pushed their record up to 28-4. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.5 runs on average over those games. As for Junipero Serra, their win bumped their record up to 28-6.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Saturday. De La Salle hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.5 home runs per game. However, it's not like Junipero Serra struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.7 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
De La Salle was able to grind out a solid victory over Junipero Serra when the teams last played back in April, winning 5-2. Will the Spartans repeat their success, or do the Padres have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
