Softball Recap: Esperanza Find Success

While Esperanza's victory against Santiago wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. Esperanza narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past Santiago 3-2. The Aztecs have seen this before: they got the W the last time they saw the Sharks on Friday, too.

Charley Duran spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just two earned runs on three hits and racked up 12 Ks. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in three consecutive appearances.

Julia Ireland

Hits (Career)

03/28/25 vs Santiago	2
03/27/25 vs Cypress	1
03/17/25 vs Aliso Niguel	1
03/04/25 @ Villa Park	1
03/01/25 vs Yorba Linda	1

On the hitting side, Esperanza's victory was truly a team effort as seven different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Julia Ireland, who scored a run while going 2-for-3. Those two hits gave Ireland a new career-high. Juliette Beltran was another, scoring a run while going 3-for-4.

The win made it two in a row for Esperanza and bumps their season record up to 5-8. They've had to fight for that success though, as they only beat their opponents by an average of 1.5 runs across that stretch. As for Santiago, they now have a losing record of 8-9.

Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Esperanza will challenge Canyon at 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday. Canyon's pitching crew has only allowed 2.5 runs per game this season, so Esperanza's hitters will have their work cut out for them. As for Santiago, they are taking a road trip to face off against Dana Hills at 4:00 p.m. on Monday.