Hawthorne won the last time they faced Westchester and things went their way on Thursday too. The Cougars skirted past the Comets 3-1. That's two games straight that the Cougars have won by exactly two runs.
Humberto Gomez spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on seven hits and racked up ten Ks. He is becoming a predictor of Hawthorne's success: when he allows at most one earned run the team is 3-1 (and 0-5-1 when he doesn't).
At the plate, Joaquin Arana was excellent, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with one stolen base, one run, and one double. The team also got some help courtesy of Jose Ruelas, who went 2-for-4 with two doubles, one stolen base, and one run.

Cougars
| 03/12/26 vs Westchester | 48.1% |
| 03/10/26 @ Beverly Hills | 32.1% |
| 03/07/26 vs Lennox Academy | 13% |
| 03/05/26 vs Shalhevet | 29.2% |
| 03/03/26 vs Environmental Charter | 38.5% |
| + 9 more games |
Hawthorne was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .481. The last time their batting average was this high was back in April of 2025.
The victory made it two in a row for Hawthorne and bumps their season record up to 3-6-1. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered a grand total of 6 runs in those games. As for Westchester, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 3-4.
Hawthorne and Westchester could both be facing uphill battles in their next games considering their disadvantage in the MaxPreps California Rankings. The Cougars will face off against Santa Monica at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday with a big rank disadvantage (794 vs. 338). Meanwhile, Westchester (ranked 541st) will meet Rancho Dominguez (ranked 165th) at 3:00 p.m. on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps