Awaken Christian is 0-10 against Needles since March of 2019 but things could change on Friday. The Awaken Christian Lions will look to defend their home field against the Needles Mustangs at 1:00 p.m. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Awaken Christian comes in on four and Needles on three.
While Awaken Christian didn't have the best season last year (they finished 10-13), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They put the hurt on Beaver Dam with a sharp 13-2 win on Friday. Considering the Lions have won three contests by more than seven runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Ethan Roth was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Furthermore, he didn't allow a single earned run, the first time he has blanked an opponent since back in April of 2024. He was also big at the plate, scoring three runs while going 2-for-3.
In other batting news, Antonio Rubeis and Deven West did most of the damage at the plate: Rubeis went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one triple, and one RBI, while West scored two runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. That triple marked the first that Rubeis hit this season. Another player making a difference was Lucas Wulfenstein, who scored a run while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.
Meanwhile, it may have taken eight innings to finish the job, but Needles ultimately got the result they hoped for on Tuesday. They came out on top against Pahrump Valley by a score of 10-6. Needles' victory was all the more impressive since the Trojans were averaging only 3.25 runs allowed on the season.
Needles let Tyler Wilson and JD Lusk run wild. Wilson scored two runs while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances, while Lusk scored two runs while going 3-for-4. Wilson is becoming a predictor of Needles' success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 4-1 (and 1-4-1 when he doesn't).
Needles pushed their record up to 5-5-1 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to hits: they averaged an imposing 9.33 hits in those games compared to only 5.5 in the others. As for Awaken Christian, their victory bumped their record up to 4-0.
Awaken Christian suffered a grim 11-1 defeat to Needles in their previous meeting back in March of 2024. Can Awaken Christian avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
