Softball Game Preview: Cypress Centurions vs. Esperanza Aztecs

The Cypress Centurions are taking a road trip to square off against the Esperanza Aztecs at 3:15 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Cypress has three straight victories, Esperanza has 12 straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

If Cypress beats Esperanza with eight runs on Thursday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two games with that exact score. The Centurions came out on top against Canyon by a score of 8-4 on Tuesday.

Delaney 'D.J.' Faus spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered four earned runs on ten hits and racked up ten Ks.

On the hitting side, Naya Taylor was excellent, going a perfect 3-for-3 with three RBI and one double. That's the most hits she has posted since back in May of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Aubrey Lopez, who went 1-for-2 with two runs and one RBI.

Cypress was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .417. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .414 or higher in three consecutive matches.

Meanwhile, Esperanza didn't have quite enough to beat El Modena on Tuesday and fell 4-2.

Julia Ireland made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and got on base in three of her four plate appearances with two stolen bases and one run. Another player making a difference was Erin Bigani, who got four hits from her four at bats.

Cypress pushed their record up to 16-9 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.5 runs on average over those games. As for Esperanza, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-20.

Cypress skirted past Esperanza 3-1 when the teams last played two weeks ago. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Centurions since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.