The El Modena Vanguards will square off against the Canyon Comanches at 3:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (El Modena has six straight wins, Canyon has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
While El Modena didn't have the best season last year (they finished 11-18), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They put the hurt on Sonora with a sharp 7-1 victory on Tuesday. The Vanguards might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three contests by six runs or more this season.
Matthew Gutierrez made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He pitched three innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one walk in four consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in April of 2025.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Troy Nielsen., who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI. Daniel Vega. was another key player, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and one run.
El Modena was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .419. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Sonora only posted a batting average of .080.
Meanwhile, Canyon didn't have quite enough to beat Woodrow Wilson on Tuesday and fell 4-2.
Nathan Fuzzard was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he pitched 5.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off four hits.
On the hitting side, Canyon saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Logan Adams, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one run.
El Modena's record is now 7-1. As for Canyon, they now have a losing record of 4-5.
Canyon's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: El Modena has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .435. It's a different story for Canyon, though, as they've only averaged .346. Will they be able to contain El Modena's hitters?
El Modena suffered a grim 14-5 defeat to Canyon in their previous matchup back in March of 2025. Can the Vanguards avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
