Baseball Game Preview: Canyon Comanches vs. Esperanza Aztecs

The Canyon Comanches will challenge the Esperanza Aztecs at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Canyon will be strutting in after a win while Esperanza will be coming in after a defeat.

On Friday, Canyon needed a bit of extra time to put away Yorba Linda. They skirted past the Mustangs 6-5. The victory continues a trend for the Comanches in their matchups with the Mustangs: they've now won three in a row.

Gilbert Vargas tossed a big game, pitching six innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off five hits. What's more, he posted two strikeouts, the most he's had since back in March.

Blake Helsper

Runs (Career)

04/18/25 vs Yorba Linda	2
04/16/25 @ Yorba Linda	1
04/11/25 @ Pacifica	1
04/09/25 vs Pacifica	1
03/31/25 vs El Modena	1

At the plate, Canyon got a big performance out of Blake Helsper, who went 2-for-4 with two runs. Those two runs gave Helsper a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Jonathan Sandoval, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI.

Canyon kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in three consecutive matches.

Meanwhile, Esperanza was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their fifth straight loss. They took a 3-0 hit to the loss column at the hands of Troy.

Esperanza saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jacob Santos, who went 1-for-3 with one double.

Canyon pushed their record up to 15-6 with the win, which was their fifth straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.8 runs on average over those games. As for Esperanza, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-12.

Canyon skirted past Esperanza 6-5 when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Will the Comanches repeat their success, or do the Aztecs have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.