Eight Was the Magic Number

In a pair of games over the weekend, the REV Wildcats needed 8 runs to secure victories over a couple of desert city rivals.

On Friday afternoon, the Wildcats hosted the Blackhawks from La Quinta HS (La Quinta, CA) and jumped out to an early three-run lead. REV tacked another five runs in the fourth inning against La Quinta’s sole run, but the visitors were not ready to give up. In the top half of the fifth inning, the Blackhawks scored three times, cutting REV’s lead to lead. La Quinta added two more in the top of the sixth, but it wasn’t enough. Both teams racked up 22 hits in the high-scoring affair. Justin Granado led the Wildcat offense with four hits, including a double. Chase Dabbs and Jared Benash collected two hits apiece, and D.J. Adalian and A.J. Daniel contributed one each. Jason Granado and Laviel Pickett each doubled to help starting pitcher Ray Fellows notch the 8-6 victory.

On Saturday morning, the Wildcats traveled to Palm Desert HS (Palm Desert, CA) to face the Aztecs. REV’s offense kept its momentum going from the previous day, plating seven Wildcats in four innings. Tyler Albanese got the start for REV, and he struck out five Aztecs. Albanese also recorded three hits, including two doubles, to help his cause. Hits came from up and down the lineup, including two from Chase Dabbs and one each from Justin Granado, Jared Benash, D.J. Adalian, Gabe Chaparro, J.D. Mouri, Anthony Hernandez, Chance Chavez, and Dominic Miller. Palm Desert made some noise, scoring three runs in the sixth inning. REV added an insurance run in the seventh, and Chaparro closed out the home half of the inning to secure the 8-3 win.

The Wildcats take their 4-2 record into the CBL Tournament on April 8th at Citrus Valley HS at 3:15 pm.