Cardinal Newman has won four straight games at home, while American Heritage has won four straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Thursday. The Cardinal Newman Crusaders will host the American Heritage Patriots at 6:30 p.m. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Cardinal Newman is headed into the match having just posted their closest win since February 25th on Friday. They skirted past Flanagan 7-5.
Cardinal Newman let Dominic Demarzo and Gabriel Acevedo run wild. Demarzo went 1-for-4 with one home run and three RBI, while Acevedo went 3-for-4 with one home run and two RBI. Finn Duran was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.
They weren't the only ones working in the hit department: Cardinal Newman kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least ten hits in six consecutive contests.
American Heritage hadn't beaten Westminster Christian on the road since April 14, 2018 but that history sure didn't bother them on Tuesday. American Heritage came out on top in a nail-biter against Westminster Christian, sneaking past 5-3.
Santiago Montiel looked comfortable as he tossed 3.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Jordan Rich, who scored two runs and stole Four bases. while going 1-for-4. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in stolen bases. Another player making a difference was Joseph Castro, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one double.
Cardinal Newman's victory bumped their record up to 13-1-1. As for American Heritage, their win bumped their record up to 13-3.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Cardinal Newman has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.3 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like American Heritage struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.9 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
