Diamond Ranch hasn't had much luck against Don Lugo recently, but that could start to change on Wednesday. The Panthers will be playing in front of their home fans against the Conquistadores at 3:30 p.m. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Having struggled with six losses in a row, Diamond Ranch turned things around against Chaffey on Friday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand the Tigers a 1-0 shutout. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Panthers have posted since April 26, 2024.
Ethan Lomeli
| 02/28/25 @ Rowland | 9 |
| 02/21/25 vs Garey | 9 |
| 04/18/25 vs Chaffey | 8 |
| 03/28/25 vs Western Christian | 6 |
| 04/11/25 vs Ontario | 4 |
| + 3 more games |
The result came thanks to Ethan Lomeli's shutout, as he gave up just a hit and racked up eight Ks. Diamond Ranch is undefeated when Lomeli posts eight or more strikeouts, but 1-13 otherwise.
At the plate, Diamond Ranch saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Isaiah Aparicio, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with one stolen base and one run.
Meanwhile, Don Lugo made easy work of Jurupa Valley on Monday and carried off an 11-5 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Conquistadores.
Don Lugo also got a great performance from Julian Perezchica as he tossed six innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off three hits. The dominant performance also gave Perezchica a new career-high in strikeouts (five).
On the hitting side, Austin Brown was a standout: he went 2-for-3 with one home run and four runs. Those four runs gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Jasim Malik, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases, three RBI, and one run.
Don Lugo always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .526. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Jurupa Valley only posted an OBP of .371.
Don Lugo's win was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-7. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.7 runs on average over those games. As for Diamond Ranch, their win was their first in the league, bumping their league record up to 1-9 and their overall record up to 4-13.
Diamond Ranch suffered a grim 13-0 defeat to Don Lugo when the teams last played back in March. Will the Panthers have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.
