Baseball Game Preview: Mater Dei Monarchs vs. Corona Panthers

The Mater Dei Monarchs will head out to face off against the Corona Panthers at 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday. Mater Dei has now lost seven straight, leaving the team hunting for their first win since April 22.

Mater Dei fought the good fight in their extra-innings contest against Orange Lutheran on Tuesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Lancers by a score of 6-5. While the Monarchs didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Lancers 4-0 in the first period.

Meanwhile, Corona made easy work of Fullerton on Monday and carried off an 8-1 win. Considering the Panthers have won 11 matchups by more than five runs this season, Monday's blowout was nothing new.

Eric Yao got the start for Corona and what a start it was: he tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Yao has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one hit in five consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Trey Ebel, who went 2-for-4 with one home run, four RBI, and one triple. Anthony Murphy was another key player, going 1-for-4 with three runs, one stolen base, and one double.

Corona has been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine games. That's provided a nice bump to their 20-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.6 runs over those games. As for Mater Dei, they now have a losing record of 13-14.

Mater Dei couldn't quite finish off Corona in their previous meeting back in May of 2024 and fell 3-1. Can the Monarchs avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.