Baseball Game Preview: Fenwick Friars vs. St. Francis Spartans

The Fenwick Friars will challenge the St. Francis Spartans at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Fenwick sitting on three straight victories and St. Francis on 17.

The home team had come away the winner the last four times Fenwick and Montini Catholic had met, but sadly for the fans who attended this one that wasn't the case. The Friars put the hurt on the Broncos with a sharp 11-5 win on Saturday.

Matt Purta

Earned Runs

04/28/25 @ De La Salle	5
05/03/25 vs Marmion	4
04/08/25 vs St. Rita	4
04/01/25 vs Berwyn/Cicero Morton	3
05/10/25 @ Montini Catholic	1
+ 2 more games

Matt Purta tossed a big game, striking out 13 batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. He has become a key player for Fenwick: the team is 4-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 9-11-1 otherwise.

On the hitting side, Johnny Buchman was a standout: he went 2-for-4 with one home run and two RBI. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in April. Bryan Tunison was another key player, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs, one double, and one RBI.

Meanwhile, St. Francis got themselves on the board against Marmion on Saturday, but Marmion never followed suit. They blew past the Cadets 9-0. The result was nothing new for the Spartans, who have now won 15 games by six runs or more so far this season.

St. Francis' victory was their eighth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 21-3. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.5 runs on average over those games. As for Fenwick, they now have a winning record of 13-12-1.

Fenwick came out on top in a nail-biter against St. Francis when the teams last played back in May of 2024, sneaking past 4-3. Do the Friars have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Spartans turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.