Baseball Game Preview: Central Catholic Vikings vs. Highlands Golden Rams

The Central Catholic Vikings will head out on the road to face off against the Highlands Golden Rams at 4:15 p.m. on Monday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

While Vikings fans will have to keep waiting for their squad to come home, they shouldn't be too worried about the road trip considering the result of Wednesday's season opener. They put the hurt on Shaler Area with a sharp 15-5 victory on Wednesday.

Ryan Tatar looked comfortable as he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits.

At the plate, the team relied heavily on Landon Greene, who went 2-for-5 with four RBI, two runs, and one triple. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in April of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Reece Hankinson, who scored three runs while going 2-for-4.

Meanwhile, Highlands gave their fans exactly what they wanted out of a home opener on Thursday. They blew past St. Joseph 15-1. The Golden Rams haven't had any issues with the Spartans recently, as the game was their third consecutive win against them.

Kristian Kocon and Troy Bielak made a big impact no matter where they played. Throwing, Kocon struck out six batters over two innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit (and only one walk). Meanwhile, Bielak pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-low in earned runs (zero). At the plate, Kocon scored a run and stole Two bases. while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances, while Bielak scored a run while going 2-for-2.

In other batting news, Jake King was excellent, scoring three runs and stealing Three bases. while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Beckham Ochoa, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.

Highlands always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .531. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as St. Joseph only posted an OBP of .176.