Baseball Preview: Central Catholic Raiders vs. East Union Lancers
The Central Catholic Raiders will be playing at home against the East Union Lancers at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. East Union took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on Central Catholic, who comes in off a win.
Last Friday, Central Catholic got themselves on the board against Sierra, but Sierra never followed suit. They walked away with a 3-0 win over the Timberwolves.
Not much got past TP Wentworth, who gave up just four hits and racked up 13 Ks to keep Sierra off the board.
On the hitting side, Central Catholic saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Seth Van Dyk, who went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Meanwhile, East Union was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They took a 9-6 hit to the loss column at the hands of Oakdale.
Jackson Fay put in work while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Fay was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-3. He is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now stolen at least one in the last four games he's played.
In other batting news, Kirk Simoni was cooking despite his team's loss, going 1-for-4 with four RBI and a double. Carson Sanders was another key contributor, scoring two runs while going 1-for-3.
Even though they lost, East Union didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with 12 strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Oakdale only tossed seven.
Central Catholic's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 9-6. Even more impressive is the teams they beat to make that streak: Sierra, they, and Oakdale. As for East Union, their defeat dropped their record down to 12-7.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Central Catholic has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.1 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like East Union struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.3. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Central Catholic was able to grind out a solid win over East Union when the teams last played back in April of 2023, winning 8-5. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was East Union's Dylan Lee, who tossed 1.2 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (he also didn't allow any walks). Now that he won't be playing on Monday, will it be that much easier for Central Catholic to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
