Baseball Game Preview: Chagrin Falls Tigers vs. St. Vincent-St. Mary Fighting Irish

The Chagrin Falls Tigers will square off against the St. Vincent-St. Mary Fighting Irish at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. The last three games Chagrin Falls has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.

Chagrin Falls fought the good fight in their extra-innings matchup against Villa Angela-St. Joseph on Friday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Vikings by a score of 7-5.

Meanwhile, St. Vincent-St. Mary made easy work of Aurora on Saturday and carried off a 12-1 victory. The Fighting Irish might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won eight games by seven runs or more this season.

Matthew Large spent all six innings played on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered a run (which was unearned) on four hits and racked up nine Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in four consecutive appearances.

At the plate, Zack Kurkey was incredible, going a perfect 3-for-3 with four runs, three doubles, and two RBI. Those three doubles gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Matthew Engelhart, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two stolen bases, three RBI, and one run.

They weren't the only ones making solid contact: St. Vincent-St. Mary kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 14 hits. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Aurora only managed five hits.

St. Vincent-St. Mary is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 13-7 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.2 runs over those games. As for Chagrin Falls, their loss dropped their record down to 10-12.

Chagrin Falls came up short against St. Vincent-St. Mary in their previous meeting back in May of 2022, falling 5-2. Can the Tigers avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.