The Peninsula Panthers are taking a road trip to challenge the San Pedro Pirates at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday. Peninsula is currently enjoying a perfect season and no doubt wants to keep things rolling.
Peninsula had to skate by with only a one-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the seven-run drubbing they dealt North on Thursday. Everything went Peninsula's way against North as Peninsula made off with an 11-4 victory. While the Panthers didn't have the best season last year (they finished 8-19), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.
Brenden Jarrard made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out nine batters over 3.2 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and only one walk). Jarrard was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-5 with four RBI, one triple, and one run. That triple marked the first that he hit this season.
In other batting news, Noah Thompson and Edrian Chao did most of the damage at the plate: Thompson scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances, while Chao scored two runs while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. Thompson also put up a stolen base, which was his first of the season. Ethan Son was another key player, scoring two runs while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.
Peninsula always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .556. The last time their OBP was this high was back in April of 2024.
Meanwhile, San Pedro lost 9-2 to Mira Costa on Saturday. That's two games in a row now that the Pirates have lost by exactly seven runs.
San Pedro saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Luke Lopez, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base. Another was Braydon Griffin, who scored a run and stole two bases.
Peninsula pushed their record up to 5-0 with the win, which was their third straight at home. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.3 runs over those games. As for San Pedro, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 2-4.
San Pedro's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Peninsula has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .476. It's a different story for San Pedro, though, as they've only averaged .353. Will they be able to contain Peninsula's hitters?
Peninsula was able to grind out a solid victory over San Pedro in their previous meeting two weeks ago, winning 9-6. The rematch might be a little tougher for Peninsula since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
