The Crean Lutheran Saints will take on the West Ranch Wildcats at 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday. Crean Lutheran's pitching crew has only allowed 3.6 runs per game this season, so West Ranch's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Crean Lutheran can't be too worried about heading out to take on West Ranch: they just beat La Habra at home, who had been dominant on their own field up to that point. The Saints beat the Highlanders on Friday by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 6-1. Surprisingly, this marked the Saints' fourth straight game in which the away team has come away the victor.
Meanwhile, West Ranch came tearing into Friday's match with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8.8 runs), and they left with even more momentum. They came within a single run of losing the streak, but they secured a 4-3 W against the Aztecs. That's two games straight that the Wildcats have won by just one run.
Hunter Manning made a splash while hitting and pitching. He struck out six batters over six innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off seven hits. He has been consistent: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in five consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going 3-for-4 with one home run, three RBI, and one double. That's the most hits he has posted since back in April.
Manning wasn't the only one making solid contact as five players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Nolan Stoll, who went 2-for-3 with two doubles. Those two doubles gave Stoll a new career-high.
West Ranch's victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 21-9. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.5 runs on average over those games. As for Crean Lutheran, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 20-10 record this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
