The Katella Knights will take on the Whittier Cardinals in a tournament on Monday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Katella 2.6, Whittier 3.7) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Katella took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They blew past Segerstrom 8-2. The Knights might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five matches by six runs or more this season.
Katella got a great performance from Ben Villela as he tossed 5.2 innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off five hits.
Kevin Reyes Mejia
| 02/26/25 vs Valley Christian | 3 |
| 02/24/25 @ Santa Ana | 3 |
| 03/21/25 vs Segerstrom | 2 |
| 03/04/25 @ Anaheim | 2 |
| 02/20/25 vs Godinez Fundamental | 2 |
| + 3 more games |
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Kevin Reyes Mejia, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. Katella is undefeated when Reyes Mejia posts two or more runs, but 2-3 otherwise. Miguel Prado was another key player, scoring two runs while going 2-for-2.
Meanwhile, Whittier didn't have quite enough to beat Santa Fe on Friday and fell 7-5. The Cardinals have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Andrew Ruvalcaba made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and scored a run while going 3-for-4. What's more, he posted two doubles, the most he's had since back in April of 2024.
Even though they lost, Whittier kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That's the most hits they've managed all season.
Katella pushed their record up to 7-3 with the win, which was their third straight at home. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Whittier, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-5.
Whittier's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Katella hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .333. It's a different story for Whittier, though, as they've only averaged .254. Will they be able to contain Katella's hitters?
Everything went Katella's way against Whittier in their previous meeting back in March of 2023, as Katella made off with a 9-3 win. Does Katella have another victory up their sleeve, or will Whittier turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
