The St. Joseph's Prep Hawks will square off against the Cardinal O'Hara Lions at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this matchup.
St. Joseph's Prep fought the good fight in their extra-innings game against William Penn Charter on Monday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Quakers by a score of 4-3.
Kieran Lodewick was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit over 4.1 innings pitched. That's the fewest hits he has allowed since back in April.
On the hitting side, Tommy Murtha was cooking despite his team's loss, going a perfect 3-for-3 with one triple, one run, and one RBI. That triple marked the first that he has hit this season.
Meanwhile, Cardinal O'Hara was not able to break out of their rough patch on Saturday as the team picked up their fifth straight defeat. They took a 6-2 hit to the loss column at the hands of Marple Newtown.
Cardinal O'Hara also got a good showing from Colin McAnally, who tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. McAnally has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in five consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Cardinal O'Hara saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Brendan Till, who went 1-for-2 with one RBI.
St. Joseph's Prep now has a losing record of 9-10. As for Cardinal O'Hara, their loss dropped their record down to 6-12.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Wednesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. St. Joseph's Prep has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Cardinal O'Hara struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.3 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
St. Joseph's Prep beat Cardinal O'Hara 12-7 when the teams last played back in April. Do the Hawks have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Lions turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
