The Citrus Hill Hawks will venture away from home to challenge the Rancho Verde Mustangs at 3:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
While Hawks fans will have to keep waiting for their team to come home, they shouldn't be too worried about the road trip considering the result of Tuesday's season opener. Everything went their way against Indio on Tuesday as Citrus Hill made off with an 11-1 win.
Efren Urrea made a splash while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowed only a hit over four innings pitched. That's the fewest hits he has allowed since back in March of 2024. He was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two RBI. What's more, he posted two hits, the most he's had since back in February of 2024.
Gabriel Brion
| 02/18/25 @ Indio | 2 |
| 04/11/24 vs Perris | 1 |
| 04/04/24 @ San Jacinto | 1 |
| 04/02/24 vs San Jacinto | 1 |
| 03/18/24 vs Liberty | 1 |
In other batting news, Citrus Hill let Jordan Zamora and Gabriel Brion run wild. Zamora scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances, while Brion scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. Those two runs gave Brion a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Noe Mendoza, who scored two runs while going 2-for-5.
Citrus Hill was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .387. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Indio only posted a batting average of .045.
Meanwhile, Rancho Verde posted their biggest victory since March 8, 2024 on Wednesday. They blew past San Jacinto 11-2.
Markus Villalvazo looked comfortable as he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits.
At the plate, David Hernandez was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing four bases while going 2-for-3. Abraham Manzo was another key player, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances.
Citrus Hill came up short against Rancho Verde in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, falling 4-1. Can Citrus Hill avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
