The Central Valley Hawks are taking a road trip to take on the St. Mary's Rams at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Central Valley 2.5, St. Mary's 1.9) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Central Valley is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They won by a run and slipped past Lincoln 3-2. That's two games straight that the Hawks have won by just one run.
Tyson Hunt spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned (and one unearned) run on eight hits.
At the plate, Central Valley's win was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Adrian Vega, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI. Mason Whitworth was another, going 2-for-4 with one run and one double.
Central Valley hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team has now struck out at least three batters in four consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, St. Mary's came tearing into Wednesday's matchup with six straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 9.8 runs), and they left with even more momentum. They were the clear victors by an 11-0 margin over the Tigers. Considering the Rams have won 14 games by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
St. Mary's also got a great performance from Nico Bavaro as he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out eight over five innings pitched. Bavaro has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in seven consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Dawson Labarthe was incredible, going 3-for-4 with one home run, three runs, and three RBI. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in March. The team also got some help courtesy of Dax Hardcastle, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two runs and one stolen base.
Central Valley's record now sits at 21-8. As for St. Mary's, their record is now 23-5.
Friday's contest will be a test for both teams' pitchers. Central Valley hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .317. However, it's not like St. Mary's struggles in that department as they've averaged .393. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Central Valley couldn't quite finish off St. Mary's in their previous matchup back in May of 2025 and fell 4-2. Can the Hawks avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
