The No. 1 Preston Pirates improved to 26-1 on the season, defeating No. 14 Riverside and No. 11 Oklahoma Christian Academy last week.

— Preston dominates Riverside in shutout At the Brian Crawford Memorial Sports Complex, the Preston Pirates delivered a flawless 8-0 win over Riverside, combining timely hitting with strong pitching and clean defense.

Hunter McElhannon earned the win with five shutout innings, striking out six, walking two and allowing six hits. The Pirates backed him with error-free fielding and a double play. Bryce McNac opened the scoring on a first-inning tag-up, and the Pirates erupted in the third with four runs off RBI singles by Jace Basquez, Weston Cope and Nick Costanza.

The offense was relentless, pounding out 12 hits. Kaden Dean went a perfect 3-for-3, and both Mc-Nac and Rickey Hinson collected multiple hits. Cope and Basquez drove in two runs apiece, and the team added four stolen bases, led by Tyler Stevenson’s two. — Dean strikes out 11 in win over OCA

The Pirates followed up with another statement win Friday, defeating Oklahoma Christian Academy 5-1 behind a masterful pitching performance from Kaden Dean.

Dean struck out 11 batters over five innings, allowing just one hit and one run – scored on a steal of home by OCA’s Cruz Gillespie.

Dean also doubled in the first inning to give Preston a 1-0 lead before OCA tied it. The Pirates regained control in the second with a Rickey Hinson RBI single and added insurance runs in the third on a Jace Basquez single.

Basquez was red-hot, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs. He also earned the save in relief. Dean and Basquez each finished with three hits, and Weston Cope added two of his own.

OCA managed just three hits and five stolen bases, but couldn’t generate the offense needed to match Preston’s bats.