The Hope Christian Huskies will take on the Belen Eagles at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Belen will be up against a hot Hope Christian team: the squad just extended their winning streak to four. Hope Christian's pitcher stepped up to hand Santa Rosa a 16-0 shutout on Thursday. Considering the Huskies have won five games by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Iliana Cordova was a major factor while hitting and pitching. She struck out six batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (and only one walk). Cordova was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing a base while getting on base in two of her three plate appearances.
In other batting news, Siena Sturgis was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 2-for-3. That's the most stolen bases she has posted since back in April of 2024. Brooklyn Quanz was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while getting on base in two of her three plate appearances.
Hope Christian hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now struck out at most five strikeouts every time they've taken the field this season.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Belen, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Saturday. Everything went their way against McCurdy on Thursday as Belen made off with a 16-1 win. The high-scoring performance was a welcome turnaround for the Eagles' hitters, who had struggled in the games prior.
Belen let Lorissa Scott and Araceli Franco run wild. Scott fired off two triples, three runs, and three RBI while getting on base in six of her four plate appearances, while Franco went a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, six RBI, and two runs. The team also got some help courtesy of Allie Wells, who scored two runs while going 3-for-3.
Belen's victory was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 6-8. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.9 runs on average over those games. As for Hope Christian, their victory bumped their record up to 6-2.
Saturday's contest might come down to which pitcher can control the ball better. Hope Christian has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .619. However, it's not like Belen struggles in that department as they've averaged .532. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Hope Christian suffered a grim 7-0 defeat to Belen in their previous matchup back in March of 2022. Can Hope Christian avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
