Rancho Verde is on a five-game streak of home wins, while Bloomington is on a six-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Mustangs will welcome the Bruins at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Rancho Verde proved they can win big on Wednesday (they won by seven) and on Friday they proved they can win the close ones too. They skirted past Canyon Springs 6-4. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Mustangs have posted since April 8th.
Ethan Montolfo spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered four runs (all of which were unearned) on five hits and racked up six Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in seven consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Jacob Cabral, who went 3-for-4 with three RBI, one stolen base, and one run. That's the most hits he has posted since back in March. The team also got some help courtesy of Madden Ferreira, who went 1-for-2 with one double and one RBI.
Rancho Verde hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team has now struck out at least five batters in five consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Bloomington sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 5-3 win over Colton on Thursday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Bruins have posted against the Yellowjackets since April 5, 2022.
Andrew Velazquez was excellent, going 1-for-3 with one home run. Another player making a difference was Anthony Quezada, who went 1-for-4 with one home run.
Rancho Verde's win bumped their record up to 18-6. As for Bloomington, their victory bumped their record up to 21-5.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Saturday as neither team is afraid to steal. Rancho Verde has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.1 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Bloomington struggles in that department as they've been averaging 2.8 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
