The Nichols Vikings will take on the St. Mary's Lancers at 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Nichols 3.2, St. Mary's 3.9) so any runs scored will be well earned.
St. Mary's will be up against a hot Nichols team: the squad just extended their winning streak to three. The Vikings' pitchers stepped up to hand St. Francis a 4-0 shutout on Monday.
Ross Yoshida was excellent, going 2-for-3 with two RBI and one double. The team also got some help courtesy of Derek McIntyre, who went 3-for-4 with one stolen base and one run.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask St. Mary's). They put the hurt on Hutchinson-Central Tech with a sharp 18-1 win on Saturday. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest victory of the season.
St. Mary's got a massive performance out of Trent Campbell, who went 2-for-3 with four RBI, two runs, and one double. Those two runs gave Campbell a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Alex Abreu, who went 3-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and one stolen base.
St. Mary's was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .559. They are a perfect 3-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Nichols' win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 10-4. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for St. Mary's, their win ended a four-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 6-8.
Nichols' speedy runners might be the difference in Tuesday's game. The Vikings have been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 4.8 stolen bases per game. It's a different story for St. Mary's, though, as they've been averaging only 1.4 stolen bases. Will they be able to secure the bases, or will Nichols continue to outrun the ball?
Nichols couldn't quite finish off St. Mary's in their previous matchup back in April of 2024 and fell 6-4. Can the Vikings avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
