The El Modena Vanguards will challenge the Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
El Modena is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past Poway 8-6.
Parker Mayes
| 06/05/25 vs Poway | 2 |
| 05/24/25 @ Temescal Canyon | 1 |
| 05/17/25 vs Rosary Academy | 1 |
| 05/01/25 @ Pacifica | 1 |
| 03/08/25 vs Norco | 1 |
Parker Mayes was incredible, firing off two home runs and three RBI while getting on base in all five of her plate appearances. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in runs (two). Jocelyn Alatorre was another key player, going a perfect 3-for-3 with three RBI, two doubles, and one stolen base.
They weren't the only ones working in the home run department: El Modena lost a few balls and finished the game with three home runs. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Poway didn't launched any home runs.
Meanwhile, Mater Dei Catholic faced Bonita Vista in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Thursday. The Crusaders had just enough and edged out the Barons 5-4. The win was nothing new for the Crusaders as they're now sitting on six straight.
The team relied heavily on Liana Qui?ones, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with two runs, one double, and one RBI. Another player making a difference was Lilia Alpuche, who went 3-for-4 with two RBI.
Mater Dei Catholic's victory was their 15th straight at home, which pushed their record up to 26-7. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.6 runs on average over those games. As for El Modena, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games. That's provided a nice bump to their 23-9 record this season.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Saturday. El Modena hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.8 home runs per game. However, it's not like Mater Dei Catholic struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.6 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
El Modena skirted past Mater Dei Catholic 7-5 in their previous matchup back in March of 2022. Do the Vanguards have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Crusaders turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
