The Sun Valley Vanguards will head out to face off against the Interboro Buccaneers at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday.
On Thursday, Sun Valley didn't have quite enough to beat Great Valley and fell 4-3. The Vanguards have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Sun Valley saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Sebastian Graham, who went 2-for-4 with one double and one RBI. That RBI was Graham's first of the season.
Meanwhile, Interboro waltzed into their matchup on Thursday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They put the hurt on the Clippers with a sharp 15-5 win. The Buccaneers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven contests by ten runs or more this season.
Nick Rivera and Austin Dean did most of the damage at the plate: Rivera got on base in three of his four plate appearances with three runs and one double, while Dean went 1-for-2 with three runs and one stolen base. Those three runs gave Rivera a new career-high. Evan Thomas was another key player, earning two RBI, one run, and two stolen bases.
Interboro always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .541. That was just more of the same: they've now posted an OBP of .541 or higher in three consecutive games.
Interboro pushed their record up to 9-4 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. The road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 20.0 runs over those games. As for Sun Valley, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-13.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Saturday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Sun Valley has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.1 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Interboro struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 8.1 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Everything went Sun Valley's way against Interboro in their previous meeting back in March of 2022, as Sun Valley made off with a 15-0 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Vanguards since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
