The South Spartans will be taking part in a tournament against the Kennedy Thunderbirds  at 12:00  p.m.  on Saturday. Given that  the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this  contest.
South saw some tournament action  on Friday. They fell  18-14 to Wasco. The Spartans have struggled against the Tigers recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive lost matchup.
 Josh Encinas was huge no matter where he played even without the win. He looked comfortable on the mound,   pitching 3.1 innings while giving up just one earned  (and one unearned) run off   four  hits. Encinas was also solid in the batter's box,  scoring two  runs while going 2-for-4.

 Alex Portillo
| 02/28/25 vs Wasco | 4 | 
| 04/17/24 vs West | 2 | 
| 04/03/24 @ Del Oro | 2 | 
| 03/25/24 vs Wonderful College Prep Academy | 2 | 
| 02/27/24 @ Foothill | 2 | 
 In other batting news,  Alex Portillo and  Tomas Encinas stepped up to the plate in a big way.  Portillo  scored three  runs and  stole a base while going 4-for-5, while  Encinas  scored three  runs and  stole a base while going 4-for-4. The dominant performance also gave  Portillo a new career-high in  hits (four). Another player making a difference was  Julien Espinoza, who  scored a  run while  getting on base  in three of his five plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Kennedy was not able to break out of their rough patch  on Friday as the team picked up their eighth straight  defeat  dating back to last season. They were a single  run away from ending the streak, but they lost  a   3-2 heartbreaker at the hands of Arvin.
Kennedy saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was  Miguel Gutierrez, who  went 3-for-4 with one  triple and one  run.
 Even though they lost, Kennedy  kept the outfield on their toes and  finished the game with 11  hits. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Arvin only managed five  hits.
 South's record now sits at 1-1. As for Kennedy, their record is now 0-2.
 Everything went South's way against Kennedy when the teams last played  back in February of 2024, as South made off with  a  7-1 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for South since the  squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps