The Downey Vikings will challenge the Claremont Wolfpack at 3:15 p.m. on Friday. The last four games Downey has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.
On Wednesday, Downey didn't have quite enough to beat Paramount and fell 4-3.
Xavier Renteria spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered four runs (all of which were unearned) on seven hits and racked up eight Ks.
At the plate, Miguel Fernandez made the most of his time in the batter's box despite the final result and went a perfect 1-for-1 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Chris Palacios, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base and one run.
Meanwhile, Claremont had already won eight in a row and they went ahead and made it nine on Tuesday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand the Raiders a 12-0 shutout. The Wolfpack's hitters stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most runs they've scored all season.
Claremont got a big performance out of Jacob Lucas, who went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. Those two runs gave Lucas a new career-high. Evan Blacksher was another key player, going a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs and one RBI.
Downey has been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four contests. That's put a noticeable dent in their 8-8 record this season. Even worse, they were so close so many times: the losses came by an average of only 1.33 runs. As for Claremont, their victory bumped their record up to 12-2.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps