The Damien Spartans will head out on the road to face off against the Etiwanda Eagles at 3:15 p.m. on Monday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Damien barely beat Rancho Cucamonga the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Spartans were the clear victors by an 11-1 margin over the Cougars on Saturday. The Spartans haven't had any issues with the Cougars recently, as the game was their third consecutive victory against them.
Layne Hansen
| 04/11/26 vs Rancho Cucamonga | 5 |
| 03/31/26 vs Union | 3 |
| 03/24/26 vs La Habra | 3 |
| 03/18/26 vs Orange Lutheran | 0 |
| 03/06/26 @ Santa Margarita | 1 |
| 02/28/26 vs West Covina | 8 |
Layne Hansen looked comfortable as he pitched four innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. What's more, he posted five strikeouts, the most he's had since back in February.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Maxwell Ewers, who went 3-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. Those three hits gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Ryan Gonzalez, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI, one run, and one double.
Damien was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .385. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Rancho Cucamonga only posted a batting average of .087.
Meanwhile, Etiwanda got themselves on the board against Los Osos on Saturday, but Los Osos never followed suit. They put the hurt on the Grizzlies with a sharp 10-0 win. The Eagles might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven contests by seven runs or more this season.
Noah Frias got the start for Etiwanda and what a start it was: he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out six over six innings pitched. Frias has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up a single earned run in four consecutive appearances. Dylan Villegas relieved him and did a solid job, pitching one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits.
On the hitting side, Angel Mejia and Lj Roellig did most of the damage at the plate: Mejia went 3-for-4 with three runs, three RBI, and one triple, while Roellig went 3-for-4 with two runs, one triple, and two RBI. Etiwanda is undefeated when Roellig posts two or more runs, but 5-6 otherwise. Derick Kim also deserves some recognition as he hit his first triple of the season.
The victory got Damien back to even at 7-7-1. As for Etiwanda, their record now sits at 10-6.
Damien beat Etiwanda 5-2 in their previous matchup back in April of 2025. Will the Spartans repeat their success, or do the Eagles have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
