The Red Bluff Spartans are taking a road trip to face off against the Eureka Loggers at 1:00 p.m. on Monday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Red Bluff sitting on seven straight wins and Eureka on four.
Red Bluff is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They blew past Enterprise 18-2 on Friday. With that victory, the Spartans brought their scoring average up to 6.2 runs per game.
Cooper Sides
| 05/02/25 @ Enterprise | 3 |
| 04/16/25 vs Hanford West | 2 |
| 04/14/25 vs Reedley | 2 |
| 04/08/25 @ Foothill | 2 |
| 04/04/25 vs Chico | 2 |
Ryan Ross and Cooper Sides made a splash no matter where they played. On the mound, Ross pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Meanwhile, Sides struck out nine batters over four innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off five hits. Ross has been consistent: he hasn't given up more than two hits in five consecutive appearances. At the plate, Ross went 2-for-4 with two runs, two RBI, and one double, while Sides went 3-for-4 with three RBI and one double. Those three hits gave Sides a new career-high.
In other batting news, Red Bluff got a massive performance out of Mason Lyford, who went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, three runs, and two RBI. That's the most RBI Lyford has posted since back in March. The team also got some help courtesy of Kelan Elliott, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI.
Red Bluff was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .500. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .300 or higher in 13 consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Eureka hadn't done well against McKinleyville recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Wednesday. The Loggers put the hurt on the Panthers with a sharp 12-2 win. The Loggers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won six games by seven runs or more this season.
Royce Olson looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run over four innings pitched.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Robert Williams, who went 2-for-3 with one home run, two RBI, and one double. Garrett Levitt also deserves some recognition as he hit his first triple of the season.
Red Bluff's victory was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 16-9. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.2 runs on average over those games. As for Eureka, the victory got them back to even at 9-9.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Red Bluff has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.5 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Eureka struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 7.1 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Red Bluff might still be hurting after the 11-2 loss they got from Eureka when the teams last played back in April of 2023. Can the Spartans avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
