The Rodriguez Mustangs will take on the Laguna Creek Cardinals at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Rodriguez comes in on nine and Laguna Creek on three.
Rodriguez proved they can win big on Thursday (they won by ten) and on Friday they proved they can win the close ones too. They had just enough and edged out Oakland Tech 7-6.
Austin Krebs looked comfortable as he pitched four innings while giving up just one earned (and four unearned) runs off four hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (three).
On the hitting side, Gideon Mayo was excellent, going 2-for-4 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI. Another player making a difference was Ben Vaughn, who went 1-for-2 with three RBI.
Meanwhile, Laguna Creek put their dominant pitcher on display in the team's third consecutive shutout on Friday. They put the hurt on Sheldon with a sharp 10-0 win. The Cardinals might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won nine games by ten runs or more this season.
The result came thanks to Joseph Rumbaoa's shutout, as he gave up just three hits and racked up eight Ks. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Laguna Creek is 7-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 6-9 otherwise.
At the plate, KJ Winn was a standout: he went a perfect 3-for-3 with three stolen bases, two runs, and two doubles. Tyger Peterson was another key player, going 3-for-4 with two runs, two RBI, and one double.
Laguna Creek kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least nine hits in five consecutive contests.
Rodriguez pushed their record up to 17-7 with the victory, which was their fifth straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.8 runs over those games. As for Laguna Creek, their record is now 13-10.
Rodriguez's speedy runners might be the difference in Saturday's match. The Mustangs have been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 4.1 stolen bases per game. It's a different story for Laguna Creek, though, as they've been averaging only 0.7 stolen bases. Will they be able to secure the bases, or will Rodriguez continue to outrun the ball?
Rodriguez came up short against Laguna Creek in their previous matchup back in April of 2023, falling 5-1. Can the Mustangs avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
