The Santa Ana Valley Falcons will square off against the Estancia Eagles at 3:00 p.m. on Friday. The timing is sure in Santa Ana Valley's favor as the team sits on four straight wins at home while Estancia has been banged up by four consecutive losses on the road.
Santa Ana Valley will bounce into Friday's match after beating La Quinta, who they had gone 1-7 against in their eight prior meetings. The Falcons blew past the Aztecs 16-2 on Wednesday. Considering the Falcons have won eight contests by more than eight runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Espy Guerrero
| 04/16/25 @ La Quinta | 8 |
| 04/11/25 @ Orange | 4 |
| 04/04/25 vs Loara | 5 |
| 04/02/25 @ Estancia | 7 |
| 03/28/25 vs La Quinta | 4 |
| + 6 more games |
Espy Guerrero was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she struck out eight batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off five hits. That's the most strikeouts she has posted since back in February. She was also big at the plate, scoring a run while getting on base in four of her five plate appearances.
In other batting news, Santa Ana Valley got a massive performance out of Karla Oliva, who scored two runs and stole three bases while going 2-for-4. That's the most stolen bases Oliva has posted since back in March of 2024. Another player making a difference was Kathy Lopez, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances.
Santa Ana Valley always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .659. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as La Quinta only posted an OBP of .462.
Meanwhile, Estancia didn't have quite enough to beat Corona del Mar on Wednesday and fell 5-3.
Like Santa Ana Valley, Estancia also got a great game from a two-way player: Jaydin McClure. She struck out ten batters over six innings while giving up just two earned (and three unearned) runs off four hits (and only one walk). McClure was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing two bases while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances. She has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times she's played.
McClure wasn't the only one making solid contact as four players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Peyton Thomas, who went 2-for-4 with one RBI.
Santa Ana Valley has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight games. That's provided a nice bump to their 10-3 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.5 runs on average over those games. As for Estancia, their loss dropped their record down to 3-12.
Estancia's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Santa Ana Valley hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .363. It's a different story for Estancia, though, as they've only averaged .256. Will they be able to contain Santa Ana Valley's hitters?
Santa Ana Valley took their win against Estancia in their previous matchup two weeks ago by a conclusive 12-3 score. Will the Falcons repeat their success, or do the Eagles have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
