Clairemont hasn't had much luck against Otay Ranch recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Clairemont Chieftains will be taking part in a tournament against the Otay Ranch Mustangs at 4:00 p.m. Clairemont will be looking to extend their current three-game winning streak.
Clairemont's tournament run continued when they took on Mater Dei Catholic on Wednesday. Clairemont narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past Mater Dei Catholic 4-2.
Clairemont saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Bo Osland, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-4.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Otay Ranch). They were the clear victor by a 9-2 margin over Morse on Wednesday. The Mustangs not only won on Wednesday, but they posted their biggest win since March 26, 2024.
Otay Ranch also got a great performance from Sebastian Magana as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits over five innings pitched.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Aidan Galicia, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-2. That stolen base marked the first that he snagged this season. Another player making a difference was Fernando Tovalin, who scored a run.
Otay Ranch has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games. That's provided a nice bump to their 4-2-1 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.5 runs on average over those games. Clairemont's victory bumped their record up to 3-0.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Clairemont has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 11.3 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Otay Ranch struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.7 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Clairemont couldn't quite finish off Otay Ranch in their previous meeting back in March of 2022 and fell 5-3. Can Clairemont avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
