Baseball Preview: Upper Perkiomen Indians vs. Pope John Paul II
Upper Perkiomen and Pope John Paul II are an even 5-5 against one another since May of 2018, but likely not for long. The Upper Perkiomen Indians will head out on the road to face off against Pope John Paul II at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Upper Perkiomen is strutting in with some hitting muscle, as they've averaged 7.5 runs per game this season.
Upper Perkiomen will head into Wednesday's matchup out to bounce back: they came back down to earth on Wednesday after soaring to a 15-point contest in their last game. They fell just short of Spring-Ford by a score of 5-3.
Cole Pierce made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 3-for-3 with a stolen base, two RBI, and a double. Another player making a difference was Drew Graf, who scored a run while going 2-for-2.
Meanwhile, Pope John Paul II had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8.3 runs), and they went ahead and made it four on Wednesday. They had just enough and edged the Eagles out 4-3.
AJ Diaddezio made a big impact no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out seven batters over five innings while giving up three earned runs off seven hits (and not a single walk). Diaddezio was also big at the plate, going 2-for-2 with two doubles and an RBI.
In other batting news, Luca Dimaio was excellent, scoring a run and stealing three bases while going 2-for-2. Chase Frantz was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-3.
Upper Perkiomen's defeat dropped their record down to 7-3. As for Pope John Paul II, they pushed their record up to 8-1 with that win, which was their sixth straight on the road.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Friday as neither team is afraid to steal. Upper Perkiomen has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 2.8 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Pope John Paul II struggles in that department as they've been averaging 5. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Upper Perkiomen couldn't quite finish off Pope John Paul II in their previous meeting back in May of 2023 and fell 5-3. Can Upper Perkiomen avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
