Two dominant centers in Katheryn Galvez and Miah Gonzalez are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Immanuel Christian Crusaders will be playing at home against the Lucerne Valley Mustangs at 3:15 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Immanuel Christian scored the most runs they've had all season to find success on Tuesday. They blew past Desert Christian 27-3. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Immanuel Christian.
Abigail Barham was a major factor no matter where she played. She tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Barham has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts every time she's pitched this season. Barham was also stellar in the batter's box, going 5-for-5 with four runs, four RBI, and a triple.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Galvez, who got on base in all five of her plate appearances with a home run, five runs, and six RBI. Another player making a difference was Ava Blakie, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Lucerne Valley got the win against Redlands Adventist Academy on Friday by a conclusive 19-2. For those curious, yes, that was the biggest win Lucerne Valley has managed all season.
Lucerne Valley also got a great performance from Genesis Ayala as she tossed five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off four hits.
On the hitting side, Gonzalez was a standout: she went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, three runs, and four RBI. Ariana Garcia was another key contributor, scoring three runs and stealing two bases while going 4-for-5.
Immanuel Christian pushed their record up to 3-4 with that victory, which was their third straight at home. Those good results were due in large part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 19.7 runs per game. As for Lucerne Valley, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 4-2 record this season.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. Immanuel Christian hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.7 home runs per game. However, it's not like Lucerne Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.8 per game. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other baseball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
