A feisty cat fight will be fought as Oakville Tigers take on Hazelwood West Wildcats at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday. Oakville hasn't scored more than two runs for three games straight, a trend the squad is eager to reverse.
Oakville was handed a ten-run loss in their previous outing, but that didn't affect their clutch gene on Tuesday. Their pitchers stepped up to hand Marquette a 1-0 shutout. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Tigers have posted against the Mustangs since April 9, 2016.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Hazelwood West). They blew past Maplewood-Richmond Heights 15-0 on Tuesday. Considering the Wildcats have won four contests by more than five runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Jayden Green was a major factor no matter where he played. He pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He also tossed no walks, which is notable because Hazelwood West is 2-1 when he allows at most one walk, but 3-5 otherwise. Green was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-2.
In other batting news, Alex Hobson was a standout: he went 1-for-2 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. That home run marked the first that he launched this season. Cristian Ibarra-Castro was another key player, going 1-for-3 with one home run and two runs.
Hazelwood West lost a few balls and finished the game with two home runs. That's the most home runs they've posted since back in April of 2024.
Hazelwood West's record now sits at 5-6. As for Oakville, they now have a winning record of 3-2.
Everything went Oakville's way against Hazelwood West in their previous meeting two weeks ago, as Oakville made off with an 11-1 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Tigers since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
