Rialto hasn't had much luck against Kaiser recently, but that could start to change on Monday. The Knights will take on the Cats at 3:45 p.m. Rialto is coming into the match hot, having won their last five games.
Rialto's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They came out on top against Colton by a score of 4-0.
Alex Valadez was a major factor no matter where he played. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out eight over 6.1 innings pitched. Those eight strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Hugo Sanchez, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with one RBI.
The home team had come away the winner the last five times Kaiser and Summit had met, but sadly for the fans who attended this one that wasn't the case. The Cats took a 6-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of the SkyHawks on Friday. The defeat continues a trend for the Cats in their meetings with the SkyHawks: they've now lost four in a row.
Kaiser also got a good showing from Gabriel Martinez, who kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits over four innings pitched. Martinez has been consistent: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in six consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Kaiser saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Danny Andrew Ramirez, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with one RBI.
Rialto's win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-3. Those home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.8 runs over those games. As for Kaiser, their loss dropped their record down to 11-8.
Rialto skirted past Kaiser 7-5 when the teams last played back in April of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Knights since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
