La Jolla is on a five-game streak of home wins, while Clairemont is on a five-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Vikings will welcome the Chieftains at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (La Jolla 3.9, Clairemont 3.8) so any runs scored will be well earned.
La Jolla's pitching crew heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They came out on top against San Diego by a score of 4-0. The victory continues a trend for the Vikings in their matchups with the Cavers: they've now won six in a row.
La Jolla got a big performance out of Hank Hansen, who went 1-for-3 with one triple, one stolen base, and one run. Another player making a difference was Ryan Kestler, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.
Meanwhile, Clairemont got the win against Mission Bay on Thursday by a conclusive 8-0. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest win the Chieftains have posted against the Buccaneers since April 9, 2018.
The result came thanks to Christian Garcia's shutout, as he gave up just five hits and racked up 12 Ks. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Luis Murrieta, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs and one stolen base. Those three runs gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Colton Daudet, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with one run and one RBI.
Clairemont always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .514. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Mission Bay only posted an OBP of .231.
Clairemont is on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last ten games. That's provided a nice bump to their 16-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.0 runs over those games. As for La Jolla, their win bumped their record up to 15-9.
La Jolla beat Clairemont 5-2 in their previous meeting back in April of 2024. Will the Vikings repeat their success, or do the Chieftains have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.