The Bloomfield Bobcats will take on the St. Pius X Sartans at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Bloomfield is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They skirted past Albuquerque Academy 4-2. The win continues a trend for the Bobcats in their matchups with the Chargers: they've now won three in a row.
Blake Spencer made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching seven innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off five hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in seven consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with one RBI.
In other batting news, Gavin Pecotte was excellent, going 2-for-3 with two runs and one double. Another player making a difference was Troy Jaramillo, who went 1-for-4 with one triple and one RBI.
Meanwhile, St. Pius X came tearing into Thursday's matchup with seven straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 7.4 runs), and they left with even more momentum. They came within a single run of losing the streak, but they secured a 3-2 W against the Pirates.
Hunter Jiron spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned (and one unearned) run on four hits and racked up seven Ks.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Kaiden Swanson, who went 1-for-2 with one triple, one stolen base, and one run. The team also got some help courtesy of Jacob Madrid, who went 2-for-3 with one triple and one run.
St. Pius X's victory was their tenth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 18-11. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.3 runs over those games. As for Bloomfield, their victory bumped their record up to 23-6.
Bloomfield might still be hurting after the 9-0 loss they got from St. Pius X in their previous matchup back in May of 2019. Can the Bobcats avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
