The Banning Pilots will square off against the Palos Verdes Sea Kings at 3:15 p.m. on Monday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Banning's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed last Thursday. They blew past Rancho Dominguez 21-0. The victory continues a trend for the Pilots in their matchups with the Lobos: they've now won eight in a row.
Lilly Devora looked comfortable as she struck out seven batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and only one walk).
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Kourtney Talanoa, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with one home run, three runs, and three RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Lilly Aguilar, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with four runs, two stolen bases, and two doubles.
Banning was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .722. They are 6-2 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Meanwhile, Palos Verdes had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 7 runs) and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. They were the clear victors by a 9-0 margin over the Panthers.
Adela Randazzo and Maddie Gregory did most of the damage at the plate: Randazzo went 1-for-2 with one home run, while Gregory got on base in all four of her plate appearances with one run and one RBI. Maven Ding was another key player, going 1-for-3 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
Palos Verdes pushed their record up to 13-6 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. Those road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.3 runs on average over those games. As for Banning, their win bumped their record up to 7-11.
Palos Verdes' pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Banning has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .480. It's a different story for Palos Verdes, though, as they've only averaged .351. Will they be able to contain Banning's hitters?
Banning came out on top in a nail-biter against Palos Verdes when the teams last played back in February of 2023, sneaking past 5-4. Will the Pilots repeat their success, or do the Sea Kings have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
