The Maranatha Minutemen will face off against the Rancho Cucamonga Cougars at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Maranatha sitting on three straight victories and Rancho Cucamonga on six.
Maranatha had to skate by with only a two-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the nine-run drubbing they dealt Heritage Christian on Tuesday. The Minutemen blew past the Warriors 11-2. Maranatha's win was all the more impressive since the Warriors were averaging only 3.29 runs allowed on the season.
Bradley Loiacono
| 04/01/25 @ Heritage Christian | 3 |
| 02/25/25 @ Etiwanda | 2 |
| 03/20/25 @ Brea Olinda | 1 |
| 03/04/25 vs Los Osos | 1 |
Bradley Loiacono looked comfortable as he tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (three).
At the plate, Josh Proctor and Will Suslow did most of the damage at the plate: Proctor went 2-for-5 with one home run, five RBI, and one double, while Suslow scored three runs while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. That's the most RBI Proctor has posted since back in April of 2024. Trevor Rivas was another key player, scoring three runs while going 1-for-4.
Meanwhile, while Rancho Cucamonga put up some runs on Thursday, the same can't be said for Ontario Christian. The Cougars were the clear victors by an 8-0 margin over the Knights. Considering the Cougars have won four matchups by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
The team relied heavily on Rowan Suchanek, who scored two runs while going 2-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Beau Briggs, who went 3-for-4 with one double and one RBI.
Rancho Cucamonga was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .400. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .318 or higher in six consecutive contests.
Rancho Cucamonga's victory was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-2. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.9 runs on average over those games. As for Maranatha, their victory bumped their record up to 5-6-1.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Wednesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Maranatha has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Rancho Cucamonga struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 8.9 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
