The Rancho Cotate Cougars will square off against the Cardinal Newman Cardinals at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Rancho Cotate barely beat Analy the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Cougars put the hurt on the Tigers with a sharp 11-3 win on Thursday. The Cougars have beaten the Tigers the last four times they've met, but they better watch out: this was the closest the Tigers has come to flipping the script.
Lily Alvis
| 04/17/25 @ Analy | 3 |
| 04/14/25 vs Sonoma Valley | 2 |
| 04/04/25 vs Montgomery | 2 |
| 04/02/25 vs Analy | 2 |
| 03/25/25 vs Maria Carrillo | 2 |
The team relied heavily on Lily Alvis, who went 3-for-4 with three runs, one triple, and one stolen base. Those three runs gave her a new career-high. Isabella Scardina was another key player, going 1-for-4 with one home run and three RBI.
Rancho Cotate was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .487. They are 6-1 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Meanwhile, Cardinal Newman had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 5.7 runs) and they went ahead and made it four on Tuesday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand the Tigers a 9-0 shutout. Considering the Cardinals have won six contests by more than six runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
The result came thanks to Izzie Kunimune's shutout, as she gave up just three hits and racked up seven Ks. She has been consistent for a while: she hasn't given up more than two walks in ten consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Cardinal Newman got a big performance out of Jordyn Johnsen, who went 2-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. Johnsen has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Andrea Mansbery, who went 1-for-4 with one home run and two RBI.
Cardinal Newman pushed their record up to 11-6 with the victory, which was their fifth straight on the road. The road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.4 runs over those games. As for Rancho Cotate, their victory bumped their record up to 7-8.
Tuesday's game will be a test for both teams' pitchers. Rancho Cotate hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .356. However, it's not like Cardinal Newman struggles in that department as they've averaged .348. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Rancho Cotate suffered a grim 13-3 defeat to Cardinal Newman in their previous meeting two weeks ago. Can the Cougars avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
