The Westlake Warriors will look to defend their home field on Saturday against the Notre Dame (SO) Knights at 10:00 a.m. The last four games Westlake has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.
On Thursday, Westlake sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 4-2 victory over Oaks Christian.
Westlake got a great performance from Jesse Beer as he struck out seven batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits (and not a single walk). Beer has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Nolan Johnson, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame (SO) owes their pitching crew a big pat on the back after their performance on Wednesday. They blew past Crespi 6-0. The win made it back-to-back victories for Notre Dame (SO).
The result came thanks to Erik Puodzlunas's shutout, as he gave up just one hit.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Levi Sterling, who went 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBI, and two runs.
Westlake is on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last ten games, which provided a nice bump to their 23-4 record this season. As for Notre Dame (SO), their win bumped their record up to 18-8-1.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Saturday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Westlake has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Notre Dame (SO) struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.9. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Westlake couldn't quite finish off Notre Dame (SO) when the teams last played back in March of 2018 and fell 4-2. Thankfully for Westlake, Carter Kessinger (who struck out seven batters over seven innings while giving up just two earned runs off nine hits (and not a single walk)) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
