De La Salle has won 12 straight games at home, while St. Mary has won 12 straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Thursday. The Spartans will welcome the Rams at 4:00 p.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (De La Salle 2, St. Mary's 2.5) so any runs scored will be well earned.
De La Salle is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They walked away with a 7-3 victory over Del Oro.
Mason Cortez
| 06/03/25 vs Del Oro | 3 |
| 05/31/25 vs College Park | 1 |
| 04/29/25 @ Livermore | 3 |
Mason Cortez looked comfortable as he tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. What's more, he posted three strikeouts, the most he's had since back in April.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Antonio Castro, who went 3-for-4 with two runs, one triple, and one stolen base. The team also got some help courtesy of Brandon Vargas, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI and one double.
De La Salle was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .483. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Del Oro only posted a batting average of .259.
Meanwhile, St. Mary's faced Valley Christian in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Tuesday. The Rams came out on top against the Warriors by a score of 4-3 (the very same score they lost by in their prior game).
Tanner Grove was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out six batters over seven innings while giving up three earned runs off only two hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in three consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with one home run and three RBI.
In other batting news, Dax Hardcastle was incredible, going 2-for-3 with one home run and two runs. Another player making a difference was Brady Errecart, who went 2-for-4 with one run and one double.
De La Salle is on a roll lately: they've won 17 of their last 18 matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 27-4 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.5 runs over those games. As for St. Mary's, their victory bumped their record up to 26-8.
De La Salle came up short against St. Mary's in their previous meeting back in March, falling 4-1. Can the Spartans avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
