The Brother Rice Crusaders will head out on the road to square off against the Chicago Mt. Carmel Caravan at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Brother Rice has 25 straight victories, Chicago Mt. Carmel has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Brother Rice is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Illinois' top teams: Providence Catholic, who was ranked 16th at the time (Brother Rice was ranked first). The Crusaders sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 5-4 win over the Celtics on Saturday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Crusaders have posted against the Celtics since April 28, 2022.
Brayden McKendrick tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only one hit while striking out six over 6.1 innings pitched.
On the hitting side, Gavin Triezenberg was incredible, going 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, one triple, and one run. Another player making a difference was Nolan Ramoley, who went 1-for-3 with two RBI, one run, and one double.
Meanwhile, Chicago Mt. Carmel fell victim to St. Laurence and their airtight pitching crew on Saturday. They came up short against the Vikings, falling 9-0. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest defeat the Caravan have suffered since April 10th.
Brother Rice pushed their record up to 26-1 with the win, which was their 16th straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.6 runs on average over those games. As for Chicago Mt. Carmel, their loss dropped their record down to 16-11.
Both Brother Rice and Chicago Mt. Carmel just can't seem to miss. The Crusaders have been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 9.3 hits per game. However, it's not like Chicago Mt. Carmel struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 5.1 hits. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Brother Rice couldn't quite get it done against Chicago Mt. Carmel when the teams last played back in May of 2024 as they fell 3-0. Can the Crusaders avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
