Baseball Game Preview: Columbia Cougars vs. St. Peter's Prep Marauders

The Columbia Cougars will face off against the St. Peter's Prep Marauders at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday.

Columbia is probably headed into the match with a chip on their shoulder considering West Essex just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Wednesday. They fell just short of the Knights by a score of 4-3.

Meanwhile, St. Peter's Prep faced DePaul Catholic in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Wednesday. The Marauders put the hurt on the Spartans with a sharp 12-5 win. Considering the Marauders have won nine contests by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.

St. Peter's Prep let Anthony Huaranga and Lorenzo Camilleri run wild. Huaranga got on base in four of his five plate appearances with three RBI and one double, while Camilleri got on base in three of his five plate appearances with two runs, one double, and one RBI. Those three RBI gave Huaranga a new career-high. Jayden Beriguette was another key player, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs, one double, and one RBI.

St. Peter's Prep has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight games. That's provided a nice bump to their 15-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.6 runs on average over those games. As for Columbia, their defeat dropped their record down to 9-7.