Power 25: Week Ahead

Big matchups in Bay Area and Southern California take place between Power 25 teams this week that can have high stakes for future rankings. Take a look at these week 9 games.

No. 2 Santa Margarita vs. No. 4 Aquinas

Both of these teams are bouncing off good weeks in tournament play which saw Aquinas climb in the Power 25. This Wednesday matchup is part of the Boras Classic with serious top 5 contentions for the rankings.

Santa Margarita enters with a 16-3 record and is coming off a Monday win against No. 3 Corona. In that game, ‘23 RHP Collin Clarke (Uncommitted) tossed a complete game. The offense was sparse in the 2-1 win but the bats of ‘23 C Luke Lavin (Stanford) and ‘24 OF Logan Degroot (UCLA) were able to get it done with Degroot driving in both runs. As of April 10, the team holds a combined batting average of .256 and a pitching staff ERA of 1.79.

Aquinas enters 13-2 with a seven-game win streak. In those seven games, they have outscored opponents 52-6 with No. 16 Cypress putting up four runs against them on Monday with Aquinas winning 6-4. 

Dominant pitching and very strong hitting are on both sides of the diamond for these teams. This game will be one to watch.

No. 5 Valley Christian vs. No. 17 Bellarmine

Valley Christian is coming off of a tournament and their first league opponent back will be Bellarmine. In that tournament, they went 2-2, losing both games by a margin of one. The hitting for Valley Christian has been out of the world though, the team holds a .306 batting average with ‘23 OF Carmelo Rivera (Uncommitted) leading the sheet with a .436 average. The pitching has also been phenomenal, led by ‘23 RHP Michael Castaneda (Northern Kentucky) and ‘23 RHP Alec Belardes (Arizona State) for a team combined 0.89 ERA.

Bellarmine’s team batting average sits at a healthy .266 led by ‘23 MIF Luke Rooney, ‘24 OF Calem Filipek, and ‘23 SS Chase Knight (Fresno State), all hitting over .333. The team ERA sits at 2.23 off of the efforts of ‘23 RHP Paul Montgomery (Uncommitted) and ‘24 RHP Wade Mountz (Arkansas).

Both teams can’t afford to slip up in this one as mistakes can be costly with the pitching and bats on both sides.