The Saugus Centurions will head out on the road to take on the Oaks Christian Lions at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. Saugus is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.7 runs per game this season.
Saugus had to skate by with only a one-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the 20-run drubbing they dealt North Hollywood on Tuesday. Saugus put the hurt on North Hollywood with a sharp 21-1 victory. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Centurions considering their one-run performance the game before.
Ming Lee
| 03/04/25 vs North Hollywood | 5 |
| 02/22/24 vs Highland | 4 |
| 02/13/24 @ Rio Mesa | 4 |
| 03/20/24 vs West Ranch | 2 |
| 03/09/24 @ Palos Verdes | 2 |
Ming Lee looked comfortable as he tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (five).
At the plate, Kaden Haag was a standout: he scored three runs while going 2-for-3. Jason-Jd Lawless was another key player, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 3-for-5.
Saugus was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .414. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as North Hollywood only posted a batting average of .118.
Meanwhile, Oaks Christian narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past Harvard-Westlake 5-3.
James Latshaw made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He pitched 5.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off two hits. Latshaw was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-2 with one home run. That home run marked the first that he launched this season.
In other pitching news, Connor Sahagun looked comfortable as he pitched 1.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one hit any time he's pitched this season.
Back at the plate, Quentin Young was excellent, going 1-for-4 with one home run and three RBI. He is on a roll when it comes to home runs, as he's now launched at least one in each of the last three games he's played. Joshua Brown also deserves some recognition as he hit his first double of the season.
The victory was the third in a row for Saugus, bringing their record for this year to 6-1. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to strikeouts: they averaged an imposing 6.67 strikeouts in those games compared to only 3.25 in the others. As for Oaks Christian, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 4-2 record this season.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Saturday. Saugus hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.6 home runs per game. However, it's not like Oaks Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 1 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Saugus beat Oaks Christian 8-4 in their previous matchup back in April of 2022. The rematch might be a little tougher for Saugus since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
