The Marmion Cadets will face off against the Aurora Christian Eagles at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Aurora Christian will take on a team with plenty of momentum: Marmion extended their winning streak to four on Saturday. The Cadets were the clear victors by an 11-4 margin over IC Catholic Prep. The Cadets might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 11 contests by six runs or more this season.
Charlie Schweiner tossed a big game, tossing five innings while giving up three earned runs off seven hits.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Ethan Flores, who went 1-for-3 with one home run. Nate Bostrand was another key player, getting on base in two of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases and two runs.
Marmion hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their strikeout total in three consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Aurora Christian hadn't done well against Metea Valley recently (they were 0-5 in their previous five matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Saturday. The Eagles were the clear victors by a 12-4 margin over the Mustangs. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Eagles considering their one-run performance the game before.
Nolan Robertson made a big impact no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing four innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off two hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive appearances. He was also stellar in the batter's box, going 4-for-5 with three RBI, two runs, and one double. He is becoming a predictor of Aurora Christian's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 13-14 when he doesn't).
In other batting news, Cristian Huerta and Noah Hensley did most of the damage at the plate: Huerta went 1-for-4 with one triple, two RBI, and one run, while Hensley went 2-for-4 with two RBI. That's the most RBI Huerta has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Jack Wayne, who earned three runs.
Aurora Christian is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests. That's provided a massive bump to their 17-14 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.0 runs over those games. As for Marmion, they pushed their record up to 20-11-1 with the win, which was their third straight at home.
