The Marquette Catholic Explorers will square off against the Gillespie Miners at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Monday, Marquette Catholic was able to grind out a solid win over Wesclin, taking the game 6-1. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Explorers.
Toby Eberlin looked comfortable as he pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (three).
On the hitting side, Karson Morrissey was incredible, getting on base in all three of his plate appearances with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in March. Tyler Roth was another key player, going 1-for-4 with one home run and two RBI.
Marquette Catholic was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .379. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Wesclin only posted a batting average of .200.
Meanwhile, it may have taken nine innings to finish the job, but Gillespie ultimately got the result they hoped for on Wednesday. They won by a run and slipped past Staunton 5-4. The victory was familiar territory for the Miners, who have now won four contests in a row.
The team relied heavily on Carson Hailstone, who went 2-for-3 with one run, one double, and one RBI. Another player making a difference was Owen Pau, who went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases and two runs.
Gillespie pushed their record up to 12-7 with the win, which was their fourth straight on the road. Those road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.0 runs over those games. As for Marquette Catholic, their win bumped their record up to 14-12.
Marquette Catholic skirted past Gillespie 4-3 when the teams last played back in March. Do the Explorers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Miners turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
