The South Oak Cliff Bears will square off against the Carter Cowboys at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (South Oak Cliff has six straight wins, Carter has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
South Oak Cliff's tournament run continued when they took on Southwest on Friday. South Oak Cliff was the clear victors by a 12-2 margin over Southwest. The Bears might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four games by seven runs or more this season.
Anderson Vargas
| 02/28/25 vs Southwest | 3 |
| 04/22/24 vs Sunset | 2 |
| 04/09/24 vs White | 1 |
| 02/19/24 vs Carter | 1 |
Anderson Vargas was a major factor no matter where he played. He pitched 2.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (three). He was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-2. He also stole a stolen base, marking his first of the season.
In other batting news, James Crain III and Carson Texada did most of the damage at the plate: Crain III scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances, while Texada scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances. Rinaldo Marquez also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.
South Oak Cliff always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .536. That was just more of the same: they've now posted an OBP of .500 or higher every time they've taken the field this season.
Meanwhile, Carter came up short against Spruce on Friday, falling 14-7.
Jeremiah Smith made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went a perfect 2-for-2 with one home run, two stolen bases, and three RBI. Another player making a difference was Pablo Daurte, who scored a run and stole three bases while going 2-for-2.
South Oak Cliff's victory bumped their record up to 5-0. As for Carter, their loss dropped their record down to 1-4.
Saturday's match might come down to which pitcher can control the ball better. South Oak Cliff has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .558. However, it's not like Carter struggles in that department as they've averaged .518. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
South Oak Cliff took their win against Carter in their previous meeting back in February of 2024 by a conclusive 16-3. Will South Oak Cliff repeat their success, or does Carter have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
