Diamond Bar is 2-8 against Ayala since May of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Brahmas will be playing at home against the Bulldogs at 3:30 p.m. After the two teams made easy work of their previous opponents, one won't be so lucky on Tuesday.
Diamond Bar is returning to their home field after beating Baldwin Park on theirs, despite the fact Baldwin Park has dominated at home this season. The Brahmas blew past the Braves 13-1 on Thursday. The contest marked the Brahmas' most dominant victory of the season.
Silas Swartz looked comfortable as he tossed three innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances.
Carlos Cornejo
| 04/03/25 @ Baldwin Park | 3 |
| 03/22/25 vs Bonita | 2 |
| 04/01/25 @ Nogales | 1 |
| 03/27/25 vs Glendora | 1 |
| 03/15/25 vs Colony | 1 |
On the hitting side, Diamond Bar saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Carlos Cornejo, who went 3-for-5 with six RBI, two stolen bases, and one run. Those three hits gave Cornejo a new career-high. Another was Apolo Yonemoto, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-2.
Meanwhile, Ayala had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 13 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Saturday. Everything went their way against the Mustangs as they made off with an 11-1 win. Considering the Bulldogs have won seven matches by more than five runs this season, Saturday's blowout was nothing new.
Hayden Hovey looked comfortable as he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit.
At the plate, Ayala let Jaden Valenzuela and Jonah Boyd run wild. Valenzuela went 2-for-3 with two runs, one triple, and two RBI, while Boyd scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-2. Valenzuela is becoming a predictor of Ayala's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 5-6 when he doesn't). The team also got some help courtesy of Caleb Trugman, who went 1-for-2 with four RBI.
Ayala always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .586. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Ayala pushed their record up to 10-6 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Diamond Bar, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 4-13.
Diamond Bar couldn't quite get it done against Ayala when the teams last played back in April of 2018 as they fell 3-0. Will the Brahmas have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
