Liberty is on a 12-game streak of home wins, while Reedley is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Liberty Hawks will take on the Reedley Pirates at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Liberty is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Sunnyside a 13-0 shutout. The result was nothing new for Liberty, who have now won 20 contests by six runs or more so far this season.
Hudson Groh was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and only one hit while striking out 11 over seven innings pitched. Groh has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than nine strikeouts in three consecutive pitching appearances. Groh was also solid in the batter's box, scoring three runs while going 2-for-4.
In other batting news, Tyce Perez was a standout: he scored a run while going 2-for-4. Colton Azevedo was another key contributor, going 2-for-3 with a triple, a run, and an RBI.
Meanwhile, Reedley earned a 6-2 victory over Hoover on Tuesday.
Like Liberty, Reedley also got a great game from a two-way player: Mason Cisneros. On the mound, he struck out six batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off five hits. Cisneros was also big at the plate, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with two runs, a triple, and an RBI.
In other batting news, Cole Betancourt was incredible, scoring two runs while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Darren Ortiz, who went 1-for-4 with a stolen base and an RBI.
Liberty has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 14 of their last 15 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 27-2 record this season. As for Reedley, their win bumped their record up to 11-16.
Reedley's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Liberty hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .364. It's a different story for Reedley, though, as they've only averaged .248. Will they be able to contain Liberty's hitters?
Liberty took their victory against Reedley in their previous matchup back in March by a conclusive 11-3. Does Liberty have another victory up their sleeve, or will Reedley turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
