Baseball Game Preview: West Rebels vs. Knoxville Catholic Fighting Irish

Rebels

Runs

04/09/25 vs Farragut	1
04/07/25 @ Bearden	2
04/05/25 vs Gibbs	4
04/04/25 vs Shady Spring	7
04/04/25 vs Maryville Christian	16
+ 23 more games

The West Rebels will head out to square off against the Knoxville Catholic Fighting Irish at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. West is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.1 runs per game this season.

On Wednesday, West came up short against Farragut and fell 6-1. The Rebels have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

West saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jack Moffett, who went 1-for-3 with one double and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Knoxville Catholic was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They were a single run away from ending the streak, but they lost a 1-0 heartbreaker at the hands of Baylor. While getting shut out isn't ideal, the Fighting Irish haven't been shut out since back in March.

Knoxville Catholic also got a good showing from Tyler Slatas, who pitched 3.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. Slatas is becoming a predictor of the Fighting Irish's success: when he allows at most one earned run the team is 5-2-1 (and 9-10-1 when he doesn't).

Knoxville Catholic's defeat dropped their record down to 14-12-2. As for West, their loss dropped their record down to 16-12.

West's speedy runners might be the difference in Friday's contest. The Rebels have been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 4.1 stolen bases per game. It's a different story for Knoxville Catholic, though, as they've been averaging only 0.7 stolen bases. Will they be able to secure the bases, or will West continue to outrun the ball?

West came out on top in a nail-biter against Knoxville Catholic in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, sneaking past 3-1. Will the Rebels repeat their success, or do the Fighting Irish have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.