Baseball Recap: Archbishop Wood Comes Up Short

Archbishop Wood couldn't beat Archbishop Ryan on Tuesday even though they stacked four runs on them in the first inning. The Vikings fell 7-4 to the Raiders and Ragdolls. The result was an unpleasant reminder to the Vikings of the 3-2 loss they experienced in the pair's previous head-to-head fixture back in May of 2024.

Richie Bayachek

Batters Struck Out

04/22/25 vs Archbishop Ryan	10
04/16/25 vs Father Judge	6
04/10/25 vs Lansdale Catholic	8
04/02/25 vs Neumann-Goretti	10
03/26/25 @ Monsignor Bonner/Archbishop Prendergast Catholic	6

Richie Bayachek was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he struck out ten batters over six innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off two hits. He has been consistent: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in five consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, AJ Hopkins made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 1-for-4 with one home run and three RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Caden Vacca, who went 2-for-3 with one run, one double, and one RBI.

This is the second loss in a row for Archbishop Wood and nudges their season record down to 8-3. Admittedly, the team was facing some tough opposition over that stretch, including 7-4 Father Judge (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 65.2% over those games). As for Archbishop Ryan, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 8-4 record this season.

We've got plenty of inter-conference action coming up soon. Archbishop Wood will square off against rival St. Joseph's Prep at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (the Vikings 2.9, the Hawks 4) so any runs scored will be well earned. Meanwhile, Archbishop Ryan is set to take on their familiar foe Father Judge at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday.