Temecula Prep hasn't had much luck against Santa Rosa Academy recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Patriots will be playing at home against the Rangers at 3:30 p.m. After the two teams made easy work of their previous opponents, one won't be so lucky on Thursday.
Temecula Prep's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. They put the hurt on Saint Jeanne de Lestonnac Catholic School with a sharp 7-0 victory. The Patriots haven't had any issues with the Mustangs recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive win against them.
Meanwhile, Santa Rosa Academy waltzed into their game on Wednesday with four straight wins... but they left with five. Everything went their way against the Rough Riders as they made off with an 18-4 victory. Considering the Rangers have won six contests by more than six runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Zhoey Heraz made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than one walk in four consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with two RBI and one double. Those two RBI gave her a new career-high.
In other batting news, Paloma Pedini was incredible, going 2-for-3 with three stolen bases, three runs, and three RBI. That's the most stolen bases she has posted since back in April of 2024. Lisa Marie Cante was another key player, going 2-for-4 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs.
Santa Rosa Academy 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 12 hits in three consecutive matches.
Santa Rosa Academy's win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 10-5. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 4.0 runs on average over those games. As for Temecula Prep, their win bumped their record up to 3-9.
Temecula Prep suffered a grim 21-3 defeat to Santa Rosa Academy when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Will the Patriots have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other softball content.
