The Casa Grande Gauchos will face off against the Acalanes Dons at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Casa Grande 2.1, Acalanes 2.9) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Things were looking good for Casa Grande after they put the first points on the board on Saturday, but unfortunately for them things went downhill from there. They fell just short of Cardinal Newman by a score of 4-3.
Danny Mercado made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 2-for-4 with one triple, one run, and one double. That triple marked the first that he hit this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Camden Bushey, who scored a run while going 2-for-2.
Meanwhile, Acalanes came tearing into Friday's match with five straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 3.2 runs), and they left with even more momentum. Everything went their way against the Lions as they made off with a 13-1 win. The Dons' hitters stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most runs they've scored all season.
Acalanes also got a great performance from Branson Smith as he pitched five innings while giving up just one earned run off seven hits. Smith has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Ando Butner was incredible, getting on base in three of his five plate appearances with one home run, three runs, and three RBI. Those three runs gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Drew Asadorian, who scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Acalanes kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in three consecutive contests.
Acalanes' victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 7-1-1. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.3 runs over those games. As for Casa Grande, their defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 8-2.
