The Pleasant Valley Vikings will challenge the Chico Panthers at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Pleasant Valley is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past Shasta 5-4. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Vikings have posted against the Wolves since April 16, 2024.
Trent Soinila
| 03/25/25 @ Red Bluff | 2 |
| 04/25/25 @ Chico | 1 |
| 04/22/25 vs Chico | 1 |
Trent Soinila looked comfortable as he tossed 3.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has become a key player for Pleasant Valley: the team is 8-4 when he allows at most one earned run, but 7-10 otherwise.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Giuseppe Bianchi, who went 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI. That's the most hits he has posted since back in April.
Meanwhile, Chico came tearing into two weeks ago's game with seven straight wins , and they left with even more momentum. They came out on top against the Cougars by a score of 6-1.
Jaden Neugebauer was a major factor no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out ten batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned run off seven hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in three consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going 3-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and one triple.
In other batting news, Jaxxon Tweedt was excellent, going 3-for-4 with two RBI.
Chico was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .406. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .310 or higher in three consecutive matches.
Chico pushed their record up to 25-1 with the win, which was their ninth straight on the road. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.1 runs on average over those games. As for Pleasant Valley, they now have a winning record of 15-14.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Pleasant Valley has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.6 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Chico struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 7 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.
