Baseball Game Preview: St. Bernard's Crusaders vs. Arcata Tigers

St. Bernard is 2-8 against Arcata since May of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Crusaders will challenge the Tigers at 4:00 p.m. St. Bernard's is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.8 runs per game this season.

St. Bernard's is headed into the contest having just suffered their biggest loss since May 17, 2024 on Thursday. They came up short against Hoopa Valley, falling 9-3. Surprisingly, this marked the Crusaders' third straight game in which the away team has come away the victor.

T.C. Rinker

Hits Against

05/08/25 vs Hoopa Valley	2
05/01/25 @ South Fork	0
04/21/25 @ St. Vincent de Paul	1
04/11/25 @ Middletown	2
04/08/25 @ South Fork	2
03/29/25 @ Point Arena	1

T.C. Rinker was huge while hitting and pitching even without the win. On the mound, he tossed three innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two hits in six consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with two runs.

Rinker wasn't the only one making solid contact as three players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Tyler Maples, who went 2-for-3 with one triple, one run, and one RBI. That triple was Maples' first of the season.

Meanwhile, after soaring to 15 runs the game before, Arcata was a bit more limited in their match on Wednesday. They fell just short of McKinleyville by a score of 1-0. The Tigers have struggled against the Panthers recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive lost meeting.

St. Bernard's suffered their first home defeat, dropping their record down to 17-6. As for Arcata, their record now sits at 12-11.

St. Bernard's came up short against Arcata in their previous matchup back in March, falling 5-1. Can the Crusaders avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.