After three games on the road, West Valley is heading back home. They will take on the Citrus Hill Hawks at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
West Valley will bounce into Tuesday's matchup after beating San Jacinto, who they hadn't topped in nine consecutive meetings. West Valley skirted past San Jacinto 6-5.
Caden Bridwell spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just two earned (and three unearned) runs on six hits and racked up ten Ks.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Jacob Roman, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, Citrus Hill has not done well against Tahquitz recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Thursday. Citrus Hill came out on top in a nail-biter against Tahquitz and snuck past 2-1.
Citrus Hill also let their pitcher toss all seven innings and he was also dialed-in: Efren Urrea gave up only one earned run on five hits and racked up nine Ks. Urrea has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't pitched less than six innings in three consecutive pitching appearances.
The win got West Valley back to even at 12-12. As for Citrus Hill, their victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 13-6.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Tuesday as neither team is afraid to steal. West Valley has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 4.6 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Citrus Hill struggles in that department as they've been averaging 2.8. The only question left is which team can snag more.
West Valley might still be hurting after the 7-1 loss they got from Citrus Hill in their previous matchup back in March. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Urrea, who didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit while striking out six over six innings pitched. Now that West Valley knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps