The Shadow Hills Knights will venture away from home to take on the Rancho Mirage Rattlers at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.
On Tuesday, Shadow Hills came up short against Palm Desert and fell 7-3. The Knights have struggled against the Aztecs recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive lost meeting.
Shadow Hills saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Julian Briceno, who went 2-for-4 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
Meanwhile, Rancho Mirage had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 4.7 runs) and they went ahead and made it four on Wednesday. They came within a single run of losing the streak, but they secured a 4-3 W against the Blackhawks. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Rattlers have posted since March 6th.
Zachary Berntsen looked comfortable as he tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. What's more, he posted two strikeouts, the most he's had since back in March.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Marcos Ceja Jr., who went 2-for-3 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in May of 2024.
Rancho Mirage pushed their record up to 13-11 with the win, which was their third straight at home. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Shadow Hills, their loss dropped their record down to 11-14.
Shadow Hills came out on top in a nail-biter against Rancho Mirage when the teams last played back in March, sneaking past 6-4. Do the Knights have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Rattlers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
