Baseball Game Preview: St. Mary Central Catholic Panthers vs. New Riegel Blue Jackets

For the second straight game, St. Mary Central Catholic will face off against New Riegel. The Panthers are taking a road trip to take on the Blue Jackets at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. St. Mary Central Catholic is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7 runs per game this season.

St. Mary Central Catholic will bounce into Thursday's matchup after beating New Riegel, who they had gone 0-9 against in their nine prior meetings. The Panthers narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past the Blue Jackets 6-5. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Panthers have posted since May 8, 2024.

Will Bruni spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered three earned (and two unearned) runs on six hits and racked up nine Ks.

Austin Gill

Runs

04/23/25 vs New Riegel	2
04/22/25 vs St. Joseph Central Catholic	2
04/21/25 @ Lakota	2
04/12/25 vs Sandusky	2
04/01/25 @ St. Paul	2
+ 2 more games

On the hitting side, St. Mary Central Catholic's victory was truly a team effort as four different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Austin Gill, who went 1-for-3 with two runs and one stolen base. The Panthers are undefeated when Gill posts two or more runs, but 4-5 otherwise.

New Riegel has traveled a rocky road recently, having lost three of their last four games. That's put a noticeable dent in their 4-7 record this season. That patch can't be blamed on the team's pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.5 runs on average over those games. As for St. Mary Central Catholic, the win was the third in a row for them, bringing their record up to 9-5.