The Antioch Panthers will square off against the El Cerrito Gauchos at 3:30 p.m. on Monday. Antioch will be strutting in after a victory while El Cerrito will be coming in after a defeat.
Antioch took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They never let Rio Vista get on the board and left with a 9-0 win. The Panthers' hitters stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most runs they've scored all season.
Anthony Sanchez was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, keeping things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 11 over seven innings pitched. Sanchez was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances. That stolen base marked the first that he snagged this season.
In other batting news, Julian Perez-Bussard and Daniel Mutter did most of the damage at the plate: Perez-Bussard went 2-for-3 with one triple, one stolen base, and one run, while Mutter scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-2. The dominant performance gave Perez-Bussard a new career-high in hits. Kamari Davis was another key player, scoring two runs while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances.
Meanwhile, El Cerrito didn't have quite enough to beat Bishop O'Dowd on Wednesday and fell 4-3.
Jackson Beebout was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he pitched six innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits.
At the plate, Jaxon Coles made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and scored a run and stole Three bases. while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances. The team also got some help courtesy of Reggie Burnham, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with one stolen base and one double.
El Cerrito's loss dropped their record down to 4-2. As for Antioch, the victory got them back to even at 2-2.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Antioch has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.5 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like El Cerrito struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.8 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
