The Washington Union Panthers will take on the Chowchilla Tribe in a tournament on Saturday. The two teams are strolling into their matchups after big wins in their previous games.
Washington Union made up a huge gap compared to their last game against Taft, but they still couldn't quite topple them. Washington Union put the hurt on Taft with a sharp 8-1 win on Friday. The Panthers' victory was nothing new given the team hasn't lost yet this season.
Washington Union saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Isaiah Samora, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with two RBI and one double. Cole Roth was another, scoring a run while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, after only one run in their last game, Chowchilla made sure to put some runs up on the board against Coalinga on Friday. Chowchilla was the clear victors by a 16-2 margin over Coalinga. The Tribe haven't had any issues with the Horned Toads recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive win against them.
Nick Grissom made a big impact no matter where he played. He struck out six batters over 2.2 innings while giving up just one earned run but no hits. Grissom was even better at the plate, going 2-for-3 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. That's the most runs he has posted since back in April of 2024.
In other batting news, Adam Walters was incredible, scoring two runs while going 4-for-4. Another player making a difference was Isaak Barbosa, who scored two runs and stole Two bases. while going 1-for-4.
Chowchilla always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .553. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Washington Union's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 3-0. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.7 runs on average over those games. As for Chowchilla, the win got them back to even at 2-2.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Saturday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Washington Union has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 14.3 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Chowchilla struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.2 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
