South El Monte waltzed into their matchup on Thursday with three straight wins... but they left with four. They had just enough and edged the El Monte Lions out 6-5. That's more bragging rights for South El Monte, who also won the pair's last head-to-head.
Jazmine Leyva made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she struck out 13 batters over 5.1 innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits (and only one walk). Leyva has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive pitching appearances. Leyva was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a home run and two runs.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Jocelyn Lopez, who went 3-for-4 with three stolen bases, a double, and an RBI. Loreli Castrejon was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 3-for-4.
On El Monte's side, Elisa Gonzalez was cooking despite her team's loss, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 2-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Leilani Diaz, who scored a run while getting on base in all three of her plate appearances.
South El Monte pushed their record up to 13-5-2 with that win, which was their sixth straight at home. Those victories were due in large part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.5 runs per game. As for El Monte, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-7.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. South El Monte will have some time to savor their victory since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on Gabrielino at 3:30 p.m. on April 10th. As for El Monte, they will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Arroyo at 3:30 p.m. on April 8th. El Monte is strutting in with some hitting muscle, as they've averaged 9.2 runs per game this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
