Baseball Game Preview: Hopewell Vikings vs. North Catholic Trojans

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Previous 3 Games

05/22/23 - Away	6-2 W
05/01/19 - Home	3-2 W
04/10/19 - Away	10-6 W

Hopewell has gone a perfect 3-0 against North Catholic recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Monday. The Vikings will host the Trojans at 4:00 p.m.

Thursday just wasn't the day for Hopewell's offense. They fell just short of Avonworth by a score of 1-0 on Thursday.

Meanwhile, while North Catholic put up some runs on Friday, the same can't be said for Carrick. The Trojans came out on top against the Raiders by a score of 3-0. The Trojans haven't had any issues with the Raiders recently, as the game was their third consecutive win against them.

Jack Monaco looked comfortable as he kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out six over four innings pitched. Those six strikeouts gave him a new career-high.

At the plate, North Catholic saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Matthew Madonna, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-2. Evan Giuliani also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.

North Catholic's victory was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 4-1. The home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.9 runs over those games. As for Hopewell, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-6.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Hopewell has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like North Catholic struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.

Hopewell was able to grind out a solid victory over North Catholic in their previous meeting back in May of 2023, winning 6-2. Do the Vikings have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Trojans turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.