The St. Paul/Palmer Wildcats will square off against Guardian Angels Central Catholic/West Point Beemer on Tuesday.
Central City/Centura hit St. Paul/Palmer with a six-run third inning on Tuesday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Wildcats fell 9-4 to the Kernels. The Wildcats have struggled against the Kernels recently, as the game was their ninth consecutive lost meeting.
St. Paul/Palmer saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Mason Majerus, who went 1-for-3 with two RBI, one run, and one double.
Meanwhile, Guardian Angels Central Catholic/West Point Beemer had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 7.5 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They were the clear victors by a 13-2 margin over the Lions. With that victory, Guardian Angels Central Catholic/West Point Beemer brought their scoring average up to 6.6 runs per game.
Elliot Reeson was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out ten over five innings pitched. Those ten strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in four of his five plate appearances with one RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Isaac Guenther, who went 3-for-4 with five stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI. That's the most hits he has posted since back in April of 2024. Another player making a difference was Colby Anderson, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with four runs, one stolen base, and one double.
Guardian Angels Central Catholic/West Point Beemer kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 19 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in three consecutive matchups.
The win got Guardian Angels Central Catholic/West Point Beemer back to even at 7-7. As for St. Paul/Palmer, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-5.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. St. Paul/Palmer has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.5 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Guardian Angels Central Catholic/West Point Beemer struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.5 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
St. Paul/Palmer suffered a grim 7-0 defeat to Guardian Angels Central Catholic/West Point Beemer in their previous meeting back in April of 2022. Can the Wildcats avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
