The East Nicolaus Spartans will face off against the Winters Warriors at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
East Nicolaus is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They were the clear victors by a 12-1 margin over Live Oak. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Spartans.
Braden Hardwick
| 04/22/25 @ Paradise | 3 |
| 04/05/25 @ Lincoln | 3 |
| 05/16/25 vs Live Oak | 2 |
| 05/12/25 @ Willows | 2 |
| 05/09/25 vs Durham | 2 |
| + 7 more games |
Logan Cleary and Braden Hardwick did most of the damage at the plate: Cleary went a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBI, while Hardwick went a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs, one double, and one RBI. Hardwick has become a key player for East Nicolaus: the team is 7-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 7-9 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Lane Dunbar, who went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI.
East Nicolaus always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .531. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Live Oak only posted an OBP of .222.
Meanwhile, Winters entered their tilt with Willows on Friday with 15 consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with 16. Their pitcher stepped up to hand the Honkers a 12-0 shutout.
Boston Jones made a splash while hitting and pitching. He kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out nine over five innings pitched. He has been consistent for a while: he hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in nine consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, getting on base in all three of his plate appearances with one run and one RBI.
In other batting news, Winters let Jordan Calvert and Miles Mariani run wild. Calvert went 1-for-2 with three RBI, two runs, and one double, while Mariani went 2-for-3 with four RBI and one run. That's the most RBI Calvert has posted since back in April. Another player making a difference was Jordan Wojan, who earned three runs and two stolen bases.
Winters pushed their record up to 17-9 with the win, which was their ninth straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.8 runs on average over those games. As for East Nicolaus, their win bumped their record up to 14-10.
East Nicolaus couldn't quite finish off Winters when the teams last played back in April and fell 3-1. Can the Spartans avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
