The St. Joseph Central Irish will head out to take on the Sherman Tide at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. St. Joseph Central is coming into the match hot, having won their last ten games.
If St. Joseph Central beats Sherman with 11 runs on Thursday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two contests with that exact score. The Irish beat Grace Christian on Monday by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 11-6.
Hudson Moosavi and Jacob Courts made a big impact no matter where they played. Throwing, Moosavi struck out seven batters over two innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off one hit. Meanwhile, Courts pitched three innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off two hits. Moosavi has been consistent: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive appearances. At bat, Moosavi got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one stolen base and one run, while Courts went 2-for-3 with one double and one RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Wyatt Pence, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with three RBI, two runs, and one triple. The team also got some help courtesy of David Beane, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with two runs and one RBI.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Sherman, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Monday. Everything went their way against Tolsia on Tuesday as they made off with a 9-3 victory. The result was nothing new for the Tide, who have now won five games by six runs or more so far this season.
Like St. Joseph Central, Sherman also got a great game from a pair of two-way players: Brayden Hamrick. On the mound, Hamrick pitched three innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. Meanwhile, Colby Atkins pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Sherman is 3-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 5-7 otherwise. At the plate, Hamrick went 2-for-4 with three RBI, one run, and one double, while Atkins got on base in two of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases and one run. Those two stolen bases gave Atkins a new career-high.
In other batting news, Luke Tagliente and Bryce Mooney did most of the damage at the plate: Tagliente got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases and three runs, while Mooney got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases and two runs. Tagliente has become a key player for Sherman: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two stolen bases, but 4-8 otherwise. Chase Southern also deserves some recognition as he hit his first double of the season.
St. Joseph Central pushed their record up to 16-4 with the win, which was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Sherman, the win got them back to even at 8-8.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. St. Joseph Central has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Sherman struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.6 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
St. Joseph Central took their victory against Sherman in their previous matchup back in March by a conclusive 11-1 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Irish since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
