The Santa Barbara Dons will challenge the Saugus Centurions at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Santa Barbara 3.4, Saugus 4.1) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Santa Barbara is probably headed into the matchup with a chip on their shoulder considering Simi Valley just ended the team's four-game winning streak on Thursday. They fell 4-1 to the Pioneers.
Santa Barbara saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jetner Welch, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base and one run.
Meanwhile, it was close, but on Thursday Saugus sidestepped Golden Valley for a 4-2 victory. The Centurions haven't had any issues with the Grizzlies recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive win against them.
Daniel Harris looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit over four innings pitched. What's more, he posted five strikeouts, the most he's had since back in March.
On the hitting side, Banning Sheff was excellent, going a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI. James Frias was another key player, going 2-for-4 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.
Saugus' victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-8. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Santa Barbara, their defeat dropped their record down to 14-7-1.
Santa Barbara was able to grind out a solid victory over Saugus in their previous matchup back in April of 2024, winning 5-0. Will the Dons repeat their success, or do the Centurions have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
