The Merced Bears will face off against the Los Banos Tigers at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Merced 1.3, Los Banos 4.1) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Los Banos will be up against a hot Merced team: the squad just extended their winning streak to five. Merced never let Buhach Colony get on the board and left with an 11-0 win on Friday. The result was nothing new for the Bears, who have now won six games by six runs or more so far this season.
Annalise Ramirez
| 03/21/25 @ Buhach Colony | 4 |
| 04/19/24 @ Buhach Colony | 3 |
| 03/13/24 @ Central Valley | 3 |
| 02/22/25 vs Lodi | 2 |
| 02/11/25 @ Turlock | 2 |
Annalise Ramirez was a major factor while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out nine over five innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in seven consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with one home run, four RBI, and two runs. Those four RBI gave her a new career-high.
In other batting news, Ava Waldron was excellent, going 2-for-3 with four RBI. Those four RBI gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Antonia Lejarde, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
Merced hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now struck out at most five strikeouts in four consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Los Banos took on Golden Valley on Thursday. Los Banos wound up with the same score they had in their last game (6-5), but sadly the team found themselves on the wrong side of the score this time.
Mya Arista put in work no matter where she played. On the mound, she struck out nine batters over seven innings while giving up four earned (and two unearned) runs off eight hits (and not a single walk). Arista was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances.
In other batting news, Avery Vierra made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and got on base in three of her four plate appearances with one triple and one stolen base. Shayla Hernandez was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 1-for-3.
Merced's victory bumped their record up to 9-2-1. As for Los Banos, their loss dropped their record down to 6-5.
Merced came out on top in a nail-biter against Los Banos when the teams last played on March 6th, sneaking past 3-2. Will Merced repeat their success, or does Los Banos has a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
