Baseball Game Preview: Lakeside Lions vs. Eastside Catholic Crusaders

Lakeside hasn't had much luck against Eastside Catholic recently, but that could start to change on Monday. The Lions will host the Crusaders at 4:00 p.m. The last three games Lakeside has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.

Lakeside fell victim to Seattle Academy and their airtight pitching crew on Friday. They fell just short of the Cardinals by a score of 1-0. The match marked the first time this season in which the Lions were not able to get on the board.

Eastside Catholic never got on the board in their matchup on Wednesday, but that sure wasn't the case in their game against Garfield on Friday. They put the hurt on the Bulldogs with a sharp 11-1 victory. Considering the Crusaders have won five contests by more than five runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.

Jay Baxter looked comfortable as he tossed four innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits.

On the hitting side, Eastside Catholic let Ryan Long and Tyler Long run wild. Ryan went 3-for-4 with three RBI and two doubles, while Tyler scored three runs and stole two bases while going 1-for-3. Those two stolen bases gave Tyler a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Xavier Padilla, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-2.

Eastside Catholic was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .429. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Garfield only posted a batting average of .211.

Lakeside's defeat dropped their record down to 8-4. As for Eastside Catholic, their win bumped their record up to 7-5.

Lakeside couldn't quite get it done against Eastside Catholic when the teams last played back in May of 2024 as they fell 6-3. Can the Lions avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.