Homedale has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will face off against the Kimberly Bulldogs at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Homedale is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They put the hurt on Parma with a sharp 16-6 victory. Homedale might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team's won 19 contests by seven runs or more this season.
Lukas Hall was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Hall was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while going 3-for-4.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Andres Garcia, who went 2-for-2 with four RBI, two runs, and a stolen base. Another player making a difference was Chance Martell, who scored three runs while going 3-for-4.
Meanwhile, Kimberly owes their pitching crew a big pat on the back after their performance on Thursday. They walked away with a 4-0 win over Marsh Valley. The victory was familiar territory for Kimberly who now have four in a row.
The result came thanks to Garrett Nelson's shutout, as he gave up just two hits and racked up seven Ks. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't pitched less than six innings in three consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Kimberly's win was truly a team effort as four different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Hudson Flameling, who scored a run while going 2-for-3. Jakob Cummins was another key contributor, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.
Homedale is on a roll lately: they've won 12 of their last 13 games, which provided a nice bump to their 22-4 record this season. As for Kimberly, their victory bumped their record up to 18-5.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Homedale has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Kimberly struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.9. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Homedale suffered a grim 13-3 defeat to Kimberly when the teams last played back in April. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Cummins, who didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out seven over five innings pitched. Now that Homedale knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
