The Redwood Christian Eagles will face off against the Head-Royce Jayhawks at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The last three games Redwood Christian has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.
Redwood Christian made up a huge gap compared to their last game against St. Joseph Notre Dame, but they still couldn't quite topple them. The Eagles wound up with the same score they had in their last game (4-2), but sadly the team found themselves on the wrong side of the score this time. The loss continues a trend for them in their meetings with the Pilots: they've now lost three in a row.
Cooper Fanucchi was huge while hitting and pitching even without the win. He pitched six innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off one hit. Fanucchi was also big at the plate, going 1-for-4 with one triple and one run. That triple was his first of the season.
Fanucchi wasn't the only one making solid contact as six players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Adam Hendren, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base. Dikaio Ambriz also deserves some recognition as he hit his first double of the season.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Head-Royce). They were the clear victors by a 14-2 margin over Athenian on Friday. The Jayhawks haven't had any issues with the Owls recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive victory against them.
Like Redwood Christian, Head-Royce also got a great game from a two-way player: Ezra Goldfarb. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only one hit while striking out ten over four innings pitched. Goldfarb has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two hits in four consecutive appearances. He was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with two runs, two RBI, and one double.
In other batting news, Mateo Gonzalez was a standout: he got on base in all four of his plate appearances with five RBI, two runs, and two doubles. Those five RBI gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Kaden Choi, who got on base in four of his five plate appearances with three runs, two RBI, and one double.
Head-Royce pushed their record up to 11-5 with the win, which was their fifth straight on the road. Those road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.6 runs on average over those games. As for Redwood Christian, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-9-1.
Redwood Christian came up short against Head-Royce in their previous meeting back in April, falling 5-1. Can the Eagles avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
