Baseball Game Preview: St. Joseph Spartans vs. Western Beaver Golden Beavers

The St. Joseph Spartans will head out to square off against the Western Beaver Golden Beavers at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: St. Joseph has struggled recently with four losses in a row, while Western Beaver will arrive with six straight victories.

St. Joseph came up short against Aquinas Academy on Tuesday, falling 11-2.

Gabe Maltese

Stolen Base

04/29/25 @ Aquinas Academy	2
04/28/25 vs Aquinas Academy	1
04/23/25 @ Rochester	1
04/22/25 vs Rochester	3
04/14/25 @ Summit Academy	2
04/08/25 vs Leechburg	1

St. Joseph saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Gabe Maltese, who went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI. Maltese is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged at least one in each of the last six games he's played. Peter Stickney was another, getting on base in two of his three plate appearances with three stolen bases and one run.

Meanwhile, while Western Beaver put up some runs on Wednesday, the same can't be said for Winchester Thurston. The Golden Beavers put the hurt on Winchester Thurston with a sharp 8-0 win. The result was nothing new for the Golden Beavers, who have now won seven matches by eight runs or more so far this season.

Christian Stefankis made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out nine over seven innings pitched. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in April of 2024. He was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with one RBI.

In other batting news, Sawyer Chaffee was a standout: he went 2-for-3 with two RBI and one run. August Lichtner also deserves some recognition as he launched his first home run of the season.

Western Beaver's victory was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 12-4. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.7 runs on average over those games. As for St. Joseph, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-12.

St. Joseph suffered a grim 10-3 defeat to Western Beaver when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Can the Spartans avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.