The Santa Maria Saints will face off against the Valley Christian Academy Lions at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Santa Maria will be coming into the game with an undefeated record on the line.
If Santa Maria beats Valley Christian Academy with nine runs on Monday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two matches with that exact score. Santa Maria came out on top against Riverdale by a score of 9-6 on Saturday.
Mateo Peinado and Julius Medina made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Peinado pitched 2.2 innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off one hit. Meanwhile, Medina pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. What's more, Peinado gave up only two walks, the fewest he's had since back in March of 2024. At the plate, Peinado scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances, while Medina scored a run and stole a base while going 3-for-4. What's more, Medina posted three RBI, the most he's had since back in April of 2024.
In other batting news, Dominic Martin was incredible, scoring three runs and stealing a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Andrew Rice was another key player, scoring a run while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Valley Christian Academy came up short against Dunn on Tuesday and fell 9-5.
Valley Christian Academy saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Torin Ellis, who scored three runs and stole Two bases. while going 2-for-3.
Valley Christian Academy's defeat ended a four-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 1-1. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 12.8 runs. As for Santa Maria, their victory bumped their record up to 4-0.
Santa Maria was able to grind out a solid win over Valley Christian Academy in their previous meeting back in March of 2024, winning 5-0. Will Santa Maria repeat their success, or does Valley Christian Academy have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
