The Rancho Verde Mustangs will venture away from home to square off against the Moreno Valley Vikings at 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Rancho Verde's pitching crew heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They blew past Rancho Christian 10-0. The win continues a trend for the Mustangs in their matchups with the Eagles: they've now won four in a row.
Isabelle Sena
| 04/03/25 vs Rancho Christian | 14 |
| 02/27/25 vs Arroyo Valley | 13 |
| 04/01/25 @ Fontana | 12 |
| 03/17/25 @ San Jacinto | 12 |
| 02/20/25 vs Jurupa Valley | 11 |
Isabelle Sena made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out 14 over six innings pitched. Those 14 strikeouts gave her a new career-high. She was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing a base while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances.
In other batting news, Jaylen Anderson was excellent, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.
Rancho Verde was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .483. They are a perfect 6-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Moreno Valley). Everything went their way against Perris on Thursday as they made off with a 29-2 victory. The team's explosion at the plate also rewarded the Vikings with their most commanding win of the season.
Like Rancho Verde, Moreno Valley also got a great game from a two-way player: Julia Harris. On the mound, she tossed four innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off four hits. Harris was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with three stolen bases, two runs, and one triple. That triple was her first of the season.
In other batting news, Moreno Valley got a massive performance out of Mia Licon, who scored five runs and stole five bases while getting on base in all five of her plate appearances. Marissa Martinez was another key player, scoring four runs and stealing four bases while getting on base in all five of her plate appearances.
Rancho Verde pushed their record up to 8-3 with the win, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season. The home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.4 runs over those games. As for Moreno Valley, their record now sits at 4-6.
Moreno Valley's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Rancho Verde has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 10.8 hits per game. It's a different story for Moreno Valley, though, as they've been averaging 10.1 hits. Given Rancho Verde's sizable advantage in that area, the Vikings will need to find a way to close that gap.
Rancho Verde took their win against Moreno Valley when the teams last played back in April of 2024 by a conclusive 10-0 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Mustangs since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
