Baseball Game Preview: Reading Memorial Rockets vs. Watertown Raiders

The Reading Memorial Rockets will venture away from home to take on the Watertown Raiders at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Reading Memorial's pitching crew has only allowed 1.8 runs per game this season, so Watertown's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

Reading Memorial is probably headed into the contest with a chip on their shoulder considering Woburn Memorial just ended the team's four-game winning streak on Friday. They fell just short of the Tanners by a score of 3-2. Rockets fans who chose to attend the game sure picked the wrong one: it was the first time the team's lost against the Tanners since on Friday.

Grady Ventura

Hits Against

04/25/25 vs Woburn Memorial	2
04/17/25 vs Arlington	2
04/10/25 @ Melrose	1

Grady Ventura was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he struck out eight batters over 6.2 innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off two hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two hits in three consecutive appearances.

At the plate, Reading Memorial saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Nate Vitarisi, who went 3-for-4 with one RBI.

Meanwhile, Watertown fell victim to Melrose and their airtight pitching crew on Friday. They came up short against the Red Raiders, falling 10-0. The Raiders have struggled against the Red Raiders recently, as the game was their third consecutive lost meeting.

Reading Memorial's loss dropped their record down to 6-2. As for Watertown, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-6.

Everything went Reading Memorial's way against Watertown in their previous matchup back in April of 2024, as Reading Memorial made off with a 14-3 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Rockets since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.