Baseball Game Preview: Imperial Tigers vs. Clairemont Chieftains

The Imperial Tigers will head out on the road to square off against the Clairemont Chieftains at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Imperial is coming into the match on a three-game losing streak.

Imperial saw some tournament action on Thursday. They fell just short of La Jolla by a score of 6-5. That's two games in a row now that the Tigers have lost by just one run.

Imperial got a good showing from Bruno Hernandez, who didn't allow a single earned run over four innings pitched. Hernandez has been consistent : he hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive appearances.

Logan Higginbotham

Runs

03/27/25 @ Palo Verde Valley	3
04/03/25 @ La Jolla	2
03/25/25 vs Palo Verde Valley	2
03/21/25 @ Calexico	2
02/22/25 vs Coachella Valley	2
+ 4 more games

At the plate, Logan Higginbotham made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and scored two runs while going 2-for-4. He is becoming a predictor of Imperial's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 4-1 (and 5-6 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Ares Velarde, who scored a run and stole two bases while going 1-for-3.

Meanwhile, Clairemont came up short against Francis Parker on Wednesday and fell 4-1.

Clairemont saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Diego Matsumoto, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base.

Imperial's loss dropped their record down to 9-7. As for Clairemont, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-4.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Imperial has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.6 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Clairemont struggles in that department as they've been averaging 11.5 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.

Everything went Imperial's way against Clairemont in their previous matchup back in May of 2018, as Imperial made off with a 9-2 victory. Will the Tigers repeat their success, or do the Chieftains have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.