The Our Lady of Good Counsel Falcons will challenge the Paul VI Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Our Lady of Good Counsel 3.5, Paul VI 2.6) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Our Lady of Good Counsel took a seven-run defeat the last time they faced off against St. Mary's Ryken, but this time they managed to keep it close and that made all the difference. The Falcons came out on top in a nail-biter against the Knights on Thursday, sneaking past 5-3. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Falcons.
Curtis Griggs spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered three earned runs on five hits.
On the hitting side, Our Lady of Good Counsel's victory was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Jordan Hassan, who went 1-for-3 with two RBI.
Meanwhile, after a string of six wins, Paul VI's good fortune finally ran out on Thursday. They fell just short of Bishop O'Connell by a score of 2-1. Having soared to a lofty 12 runs in the game before, the Panthers couldn't push the score so high this time.
Paul VI also got a good showing from Lucas Driscoll, who pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Furthermore, Driscoll didn't allow a single walk, the first time he has blanked an opponent since back in March.
Our Lady of Good Counsel's win was their seventh straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 13-4. Those road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.3 runs on average over those games. As for Paul VI, their loss dropped their record down to 15-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Saturday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Our Lady of Good Counsel has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.5 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Paul VI struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 7.5 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Our Lady of Good Counsel suffered a grim 14-4 defeat to Paul VI when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Can the Falcons avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
