The St. Paul Swordsmen will challenge the Esperanza Aztecs at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. St. Paul will aim to continue their four-game streak of scoring more runs each game than the last.
St. Paul is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. Everything went their way against Whittier on Thursday as St. Paul made off with a 21-5 win. With that victory, the Swordsmen brought their scoring average up to 7 runs per game.
Gianelle Napoles looked comfortable as she pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits.
Kailee Mejia
| 02/27/25 @ Whittier | 6 |
| 03/04/24 @ Whittier Christian | 4 |
| 02/25/25 @ Arcadia | 2 |
| 04/13/24 vs Cajon | 2 |
| 04/09/24 @ Mary Star of the Sea | 2 |
On the hitting side, St. Paul got a massive performance out of Kailee Mejia, who fired off two home runs, six RBI, and three runs while going 4-for-5. Those six RBI gave Mejia a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Daina Munoz, who got on base in all five of her plate appearances with one home run, four runs, and two doubles.
St. Paul kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 22 hits. They are a perfect 3-0 when they post 11 or more hits.
Meanwhile, Esperanza was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They were a single run away from ending the streak, but they lost a 2-1 heartbreaker at the hands of Yorba Linda.
Esperanza saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jenna Gober, who went 1-for-3 with one RBI. Gober also put up a hit, which was her first of the season.
The win got St. Paul back to even at 3-3. As for Esperanza, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-3.
Esperanza's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: St. Paul has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 9.8 hits per game. It's a different story for Esperanza, though, as they've been averaging 10.8 hits. Given St. Paul's sizable advantage in that area, Esperanza will need to find a way to close that gap.
St. Paul came up short against Esperanza in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, falling 5-1. Can St. Paul avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
