Baseball Preview: Serra Catholic Eagles vs. Ligonier Valley Rams
The Serra Catholic Eagles will be playing in front of their home fans against the Ligonier Valley Rams at 4:15 p.m. on Monday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Serra Catholic came tearing into Wednesday's matchup with five straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8.6 runs) and they left with even more momentum. Their pitcher stepped up to hand the Raiders a 10-0 shutout. Considering Serra Catholic has won five matches by more than seven runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Isiah Petty made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and only one hit over five innings pitched. Petty has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up a single hit in three consecutive pitching appearances. Petty was also big at the plate, scoring four runs and stealing two bases while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.
In other batting news, Jake Holmes was excellent, scoring two runs while going 3-for-3. Collin Holmes was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-2.
Meanwhile, the third road contest was the charm for Ligonier Valley, as they earned their first road win of the season. They were the clear victor by an 11-0 margin over Apollo Ridge. 11 seems to be a good number for Ligonier Valley as the squad scooped up a victory with the same number of runs in their previous game.
Like Serra Catholic, Ligonier Valley also got a great game from a two-way player: Tyler Smith. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out six over 4.2 innings pitched. Smith was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 2-for-4.
In other batting news, Duncan Foust was a standout: he scored a run and stole three bases while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Leo Bazala, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3.
Serra Catholic's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-1. As for Ligonier Valley, their victory bumped their record up to 3-4.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Monday as neither team is afraid to steal. Serra Catholic has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 5.4 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Ligonier Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging 3.3. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Serra Catholic beat Ligonier Valley 7-4 when the teams last played back in April of 2023. Will Serra Catholic repeat their success, or does Ligonier Valley have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
