The Clairemont Chieftains will challenge the Mission Bay Buccaneers at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Clairemont sitting on seven straight wins and Mission Bay on three.
On Thursday, Clairemont needed a bit of extra time to put away University City. They had just enough and edged out the Centurions 7-6. That's two games straight that the Chieftains have won by just one run.
Luis Murrieta was excellent, going 2-for-4 with one stolen base and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Brendan Weiss, who went 2-for-5 with two RBI and one run.
They weren't the only ones making solid contact: Clairemont kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 13 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least nine hits in seven consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Mission Bay had just enough and edged out San Diego 5-4 on Thursday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Buccaneers have posted against the Cavers since May 19, 2021.
Mission Bay's win was truly a team effort as seven different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Evan Silber, who went 1-for-2 with three RBI. Those three RBI gave Silber a new career-high.
Clairemont's victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 14-5. Those road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.0 runs over those games. As for Mission Bay, their victory bumped their record up to 17-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Clairemont has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Mission Bay struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.8 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Clairemont skirted past Mission Bay 1-0 in their previous meeting back in May of 2024. Will the Chieftains repeat their success, or do the Buccaneers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
