The Simi Valley Pioneers will face off against the Oak Park Eagles at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Simi Valley's pitching crew has only allowed 3.9 runs per game this season, so Oak Park's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
While Simi Valley's victory against Oxnard wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. Simi Valley's pitcher stepped up to hand Oxnard a 1-0 shutout on Tuesday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Pioneers.
Not much got past Francesca Hall, who gave up just five hits to keep Oxnard off the board.
Meanwhile, Oak Park made easy work of Birmingham on Thursday and carried off a 7-1 win. The Eagles might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five contests by six runs or more this season.
Claire Broberg made a splash no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowed only one hit over seven innings pitched. What's more, she gave up only zero walks, the fewest she's had since March 4th. She was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while getting on base in two of her four plate appearances.
In other batting news, Sophia Casella and Kirthi Paramasivan did most of the damage at the plate: Casella went 2-for-3 with three RBI, one triple, and one run, while Paramasivan scored two runs and stole three bases while going 2-for-3. Those three RBI gave Casella a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Julia Katz, who scored a run while going 3-for-4.
Oak Park was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .375. They are a perfect 3-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Oak Park has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five games. That's provided a nice bump to their 8-7 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.6 runs on average over those games. Simi Valley's win bumped their record up to 10-5-1.
Simi Valley beat Oak Park 5-2 when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Will Simi Valley repeat their success, or does Oak Park has a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
