The Poly Prep Country Day Blue Devils are taking a road trip to face off against the St. Anthony's Friars at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday. Poly Prep Country Day's pitching crew has only allowed four runs per game this season, so St. Anthony's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Poly Prep Country Day took a loss when they played away from home last Wednesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Wednesday. They came out on top against St. Joseph-by-the-Sea by a score of 4-1.
Justice De Jong spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered a run (which was unearned) on three hits and racked up eight Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one earned run any time he's pitched this season.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Owen Ten Oever, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-3. He also put up an RBI, which was his first of the season.
Meanwhile, St. Anthony's strolled into their game on Wednesday with a perfect record and they left with the same. They walked away with a 12-8 win over Long Island Lutheran. 12 seems to be a good number for the Friars as the squad scooped up a victory with the same number of runs in their previous game.
Thomas Walsh looked comfortable as he pitched 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits.
On the hitting side, Michael Carr was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing a base while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances. That's the most runs he has posted since back in April of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Jacob Vaccariello, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.
Poly Prep Country Day pushed their record up to 3-2 with the win, which was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season. Those home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.2 runs over those games. As for St. Anthony's, their record is now 4-0.
Poly Prep Country Day was able to grind out a solid win over St. Anthony's in their previous meeting back in May of 2024, winning 8-4. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Blue Devils since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
