The Mercy Monarchs will square off against the Gross Catholic Cougars at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Mercy has struggled recently with six defeats in a row, while Gross Catholic will arrive with three straight wins.
Gretna East hit Mercy with a four-run first inning on Saturday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Monarchs came up short against the Griffins, falling 10-1.
Rae Carmichael made the most of her time in the batter's box despite the final result and went a perfect 2-for-2 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Gross Catholic). They were the clear victors by an 18-2 margin over Buena Vista on Friday. The result was nothing new for the Cougars, who have now won seven contests by six runs or more so far this season.
Clara Meeker made a big impact no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, pitching two innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off two hits. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in strikeouts (four). She was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-2 with two RBI and one run.
In other batting news, Gross Catholic got a massive performance out of Brynn Hofmann, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. Julianna Braun was another key player, earning five RBI, two runs, and one stolen base.
Gross Catholic kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. They are a perfect 3-0 when they post 11 or more hits.
Mercy's loss dropped their record down to 6-20. As for Gross Catholic, their victory bumped their record up to 9-11.
Mercy beat Gross Catholic 12-8 in their previous meeting back in September of 2024. Do the Monarchs have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Cougars turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
