The Sacred Heart Academy Irish will face off against the East Jordan Red Devils at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
For some reason, the away team has come away with the win the last four times Sacred Heart Academy and Montabella have met, but the home crowd finally got their W on Monday. The Irish were the clear victors by an 11-1 margin over the Mustangs. The victory continues a trend for the Irish in their matchups with the Mustangs: they've now won eight in a row.
Meanwhile, East Jordan's rock-solid pitcher showed up for the team's third consecutive shutout on Monday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Forest Area a 16-0 shutout. The Red Devils' hitters stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most runs they've scored all season.
Ryder Malpass made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only two hits while striking out 12 over four innings pitched. Those 12 strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with one run, one double, and one RBI. That run marked the first that he has scored this season.
In other batting news, East Jordan got a massive performance out of Brenden Aenis, who went 3-for-4 with one home run, five RBI, and two runs. That's the most hits Aenis has posted since back in June of 2024. Another player making a difference was Jacob Haley, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with four RBI, one triple, and one stolen base.
East Jordan was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .464. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.
East Jordan's win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 6-3. The road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.5 runs over those games. As for Sacred Heart Academy, their win bumped their record up to 10-2.
Sacred Heart Academy couldn't quite finish off East Jordan when the teams last played back in April of 2017 and fell 5-3. Can the Irish avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
