The Harding Skippers will head out to square off against the St. John Fighting Herald at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Harding will aim to continue their three-game streak of scoring more runs each match than the last.
Harding took a loss when they played away from home on Monday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Wednesday. They walked away with a 13-8 win over Lordstown. The Skippers' hitters stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most runs they've scored all season.
Elijah Harless
| 04/16/25 vs Lordstown | 3 |
| 04/14/25 @ Chalker | 1 |
| 04/12/25 vs Lawrence Upper | 1 |
| 04/09/25 @ Maplewood | 1 |
| 04/04/25 @ Mathews | 1 |
Elijah Harless and Abe Castellano were a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Harless struck out eight batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (and not a single walk). Meanwhile, Castellano struck out seven batters over 3.1 innings while giving up three earned (and one unearned) runs but no hits. Harless has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in three consecutive appearances. At bat, Harless scored three runs and stole a base while going 3-for-3, while Castellano scored two runs and stole a base. Those three hits gave Harless a new career-high.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Nate Wright, who scored two runs while going 2-for-4. Peyton Kallay also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.
Meanwhile, St. John had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 10.6 runs) and they went ahead and made it six on Wednesday. Everything went their way against the Mustangs as they made off with a 14-4 victory. Considering the Fighting Herald have won five contests by more than nine runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Like Harding, St. John also got a great game from a two-way player: Aaron Wychock. He struck out seven batters over three innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off two hits. Wychock was also big at the plate, scoring a run while going 1-for-5.
In other batting news, St. John got a massive performance out of Dyln Newsome, who went 1-for-3 with two runs, one triple, and two RBI. Anthony Severino was another key player, going 2-for-5 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI.
St. John was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .406. They are a perfect 6-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
St. John's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 7-2. Those road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.3 runs on average over those games. As for Harding, their win (their first of the season) made their record 1-5.
Harding suffered a grim 19-3 defeat to St. John in their previous meeting back in April of 2024. Can the Skippers avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
