The St. John Paul II Catholic Lions will venture away from home to square off against the Wickenburg Wranglers at 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Wickenburg will be up against a hot St. John Paul II Catholic squad: the team just extended their winning streak to seven. The Lions never let Mountainside get on the board and left with an 18-0 win on Friday. The contest marked the Lions' most dominant victory of the season.
James Pierski and Joshua Standage were a major factor no matter where they played. On the mound, Pierski tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Meanwhile, Standage pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has been consistent : he hasn't given up more than two hits in six consecutive appearances. At the plate, Pierski scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-3, while Standage scored two runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-3.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Aidan Randall, who scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in both of his plate appearances. Martin Apolinar also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.
St. John Paul II Catholic always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .639. The last time their OBP was this high was back in February of 2024.
Wickenburg never got on the board in their matchup on Saturday, but that sure wasn't the case in their game against Gilbert Classical Academy on Monday. They were the clear victors by a 14-3 margin over the Spartans. The win was a breath of fresh air for the Wranglers as it put an end to their three-game losing streak.
Like St. John Paul II Catholic, Wickenburg also got a great game from a two-way player: Hazen Jones. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Wickenburg is 3-1 when Jones allows two or fewer hits, but 3-6 otherwise. Jones was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-4.
In other batting news, Zane Echols was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 2-for-2. He has become a key player for Wickenburg: the team is 2-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 4-6 otherwise. Cruz Reyes was another key player, scoring two runs while going 2-for-4.
St. John Paul II Catholic pushed their record up to 9-2 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.7 runs on average over those games. As for Wickenburg, their record is now 6-7.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Wednesday as neither team is afraid to steal. St. John Paul II Catholic has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 6.2 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Wickenburg struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 5 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.
