The Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders will venture away from home to challenge the El Modena Vanguards at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. Mater Dei Catholic will be looking to extend their current six-game winning streak.
Mater Dei Catholic is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They skirted past Bonita Vista 5-4. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Crusaders have posted since May 2nd.
The team relied heavily on Liana Qui?ones, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with two runs, one double, and one RBI. That's the most runs she has posted since back in March. The team also got some help courtesy of Lilia Alpuche, who went 3-for-4 with two RBI.
Meanwhile, it may have taken nine innings to finish the job, but El Modena ultimately got the result they hoped for on Thursday. They had just enough and edged out Poway 8-6.
Parker Mayes was incredible, firing off two home runs and three RBI while getting on base in all five of her plate appearances. Jocelyn Alatorre also deserves some recognition as she hit her first doubles of the season.
El Modena lost a few balls and finished the game with three home runs. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Poway didn't launched any home runs.
Mater Dei Catholic pushed their record up to 26-7 with the win, which was their 15th straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.6 runs on average over those games. As for El Modena, they have been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games. That's provided a nice bump to their 23-9 record this season.
El Modena's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Mater Dei Catholic hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .353. It's a different story for El Modena, though, as they've only averaged .259. Will they be able to contain Mater Dei Catholic's hitters?
Mater Dei Catholic couldn't quite finish off El Modena when the teams last played back in March of 2022 and fell 7-5. Can the Crusaders avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
