The Newbury Park Panthers will venture away from home to challenge the Santa Paula Cardinals at 3:30 p.m. on Monday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Newbury Park has struggled recently with three losses in a row, while Santa Paula will arrive with three straight wins.
Newbury Park fell victim to Agoura and their airtight pitching crew on Thursday. They lost 15-0 to the Chargers. The game snapped a strange streak: the last four times these teams have met, it?s been the away team that?s taken home the W.
Meanwhile, Santa Paula won against Hueneme last Thursday with 12 runs and they decided to stick to that run total again on Tuesday. The Cardinals blew past the Vikings 12-2. The Cardinals might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven contests by ten runs or more this season.
Ayla Rodriguez tossed a big game, striking out six batters over 4.2 innings while giving up just two earned runs off five hits (and only one walk). She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than one walk in three consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Abby Ibarra was a standout: she scored three runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4. She is on a roll when it comes to hits, as she's now got three or more in each of the last three games she's played. Anaya Davis was another key player, going 2-for-4 with four RBI, one triple, and one run.
Santa Paula was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .486. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .308 or higher in 12 consecutive matches.
Newbury Park's defeat dropped their record down to 10-9. As for Santa Paula, their record is now 7-8.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Monday. Newbury Park hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.7 home runs per game. However, it's not like Santa Paula struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.4 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Newbury Park took their victory against Santa Paula in their previous meeting back in February of 2024 by a conclusive 10-0 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Panthers since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
