Softball Game Preview: Venture Academy Mustangs vs. Denair Coyotes

The Venture Academy Mustangs will hit the road for the first time this season to take on the Denair Coyotes at 4:00 p.m. on Monday.

Venture Academy fell victim to Buckingham Charter and their airtight pitching crew on Monday. They fell just short of the Knights by a score of 1-0. Having soared to a lofty 18 runs in the game before, the Mustangs' shutout was a dramatic turnaround.

Savanah Espinoza

Batters Struck Out (Career)

03/03/25 vs Buckingham Charter	12
02/25/25 vs Elliot Christian	10
03/19/24 vs McNair	10
03/07/24 @ Weston Ranch	10
05/09/24 vs Elliot Christian	6

Savanah Espinoza spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered a run (which was unearned) on one hit and racked up 12 Ks. Those 12 strikeouts gave her a new career-high.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Denair, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Monday. They blew past Johansen 17-7 on Friday.

Makayla Dayton made a splash no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out nine batters over four innings while giving up four earned (and three unearned) runs off four hits. With that strong performance, she is now averaging an impressive 5.3 strikeouts per game. She was also solid in the batter's box, scoring three runs while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances.

In other batting news, Avery Nilsson was a standout: she got on base in all four of her plate appearances with one home run and two RBI. That home run marked the first that she launched this season. Another player making a difference was Braelyn Marroquin, who scored three runs and stole Three bases. while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances.

Denair was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .400. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .303 or higher in four consecutive contests.

Denair is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 4-2 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 16.5 runs over those games. Venture Academy's loss dropped their record down to 1-1.