The Willow Glen Rams will take on the Piedmont Hills Pirates at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Willow Glen is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7 runs per game this season.
Willow Glen took a loss when they played away from home last Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. Their pitchers stepped up to hand Live Oak a 5-0 shutout. The victory continues a trend for the Rams in their matchups with the Acorns: they've now won three in a row.
Dante Pini looked comfortable as he kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits over four innings pitched.
Kaiden Pan
| 04/11/25 vs Live Oak | 2 |
| 04/02/25 vs Santa Teresa | 1 |
| 03/28/25 vs Pioneer | 1 |
| 03/22/25 vs Evergreen Valley | 1 |
| 03/08/25 @ Half Moon Bay | 1 |
On the hitting side, Kaiden Pan was incredible, scoring a run and stealing four bases while going 2-for-2. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in RBI (two). Another player making a difference was Austin Korba, who scored a run and stole three bases while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Piedmont Hills made easy work of Evergreen Valley on Thursday and carried off a 12-5 win. Considering the Pirates have won seven matchups by more than six runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Jake Paskert and Christian Bustamante made a splash no matter where they played. Throwing, Paskert pitched five innings while giving up three earned (and two unearned) runs off seven hits. Meanwhile, Bustamante tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Piedmont Hills is 4-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 4-6 otherwise. At the plate, Paskert scored two runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-4, while Bustamante scored a run while going 1-for-3.
In other batting news, Alex Tran was a standout: he scored two runs while going 3-for-4. He has become a key player for Piedmont Hills: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 3-7 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Toby Torres, who scored two runs while going 1-for-4.
Willow Glen's victory was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 9-4. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.8 runs on average over those games. As for Piedmont Hills, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 8-7 record this season.
Saturday's game will be a test for both teams' pitchers. Willow Glen hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .320. However, it's not like Piedmont Hills struggles in that department as they've averaged .347. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Willow Glen beat Piedmont Hills 5-0 in their previous matchup back in February of 2024. Will the Rams repeat their success, or do the Pirates have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
