Baseball Game Preview: Orange Panthers vs. El Modena Vanguards

Orange hasn't had much luck against El Modena recently, but that could start to change on Saturday. The Panthers will face off against the Vanguards at 11:00 a.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

Orange is headed into the game having just suffered their biggest loss since March 26th on Friday. They came up short against Estancia, falling 15-3. Surprisingly, this marked the Panthers' third straight game in which the away team has come away the victor.

Gogh Nakagawa

Stolen Base

04/18/25 vs Estancia	1
04/15/25 @ Estancia	1
04/12/25 vs Segerstrom	1
04/11/25 vs Anaheim	1

Gogh Nakagawa made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 1-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last four times he's played.

The scorekeeper got an easy start on Friday as neither El Modena nor Villa Park made it on the board until the fifth inning. The Vanguards took a 5-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Spartans. The Vanguards haven't had much luck with the Spartans recently, as the team has come up short the last five times they've met.

Ryan Novajoski was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he tossed 5.2 innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off four hits. What's more, he gave up only one walk, the fewest he's had since back in March.

Orange's defeat dropped their record down to 9-12-1. As for El Modena, their loss dropped their record down to 7-14.

Orange suffered a grim 10-1 defeat to El Modena in their previous meeting back in March of 2024. Can the Panthers avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.