The Linden Lions will venture away from home to take on the Liberty Ranch Hawks at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Linden's pitching crew has only allowed 2.7 runs per game this season, so Liberty Ranch's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Linden proved they can win big on Monday (they won by nine) and on Thursday they proved they can win the close ones too. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Ripon Christian, sneaking past 3-2. The Lions haven't had any issues with the Knights recently, as the game was their third consecutive win against them.
Jake Daluz was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-1. That hit marked the first that he got this season.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Liberty Ranch, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Wednesday. Everything went their way against Leroy Greene Academy on Friday as Liberty Ranch made off with a 10-0 victory. The high-scoring effort was just what the Hawks needed considering they were shut out in their previous contest.
Mario Rubalcava and Nolan House did most of the damage at the plate: Rubalcava scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3, while House went 2-for-3 with one triple, two RBI, and one run. Rubalcava has become a key player for Liberty Ranch: the team is 3-1-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 0-3 otherwise. Hunter Adversalo was another key player, scoring a run while going 2-for-2.
Liberty Ranch hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Leroy Greene Academy struck out eight times.
With the win, Liberty Ranch broke their three-game losing streak and moved their record to 3-4-1. As for Linden, their record now sits at 4-2.
Linden skirted past Liberty Ranch 3-1 when the teams last played back in March of 2022. The rematch might be a little tougher for Linden since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
