Baseball Game Preview: St. Vincent-St. Mary Fighting Irish vs. Canton Central Catholic Crusaders

The St. Vincent-St. Mary Fighting Irish will venture away from home to face off against the Canton Central Catholic Crusaders at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. St. Vincent-St. Mary's pitching crew has only allowed 3.5 runs per game this season, so Canton Central Catholic's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

St. Vincent-St. Mary fought the good fight in their extra-innings matchup against Padua Franciscan on Wednesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They took a 9-5 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Bruins.

Tyler Slone put in work no matter where he played. On the mound, he tossed six innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off three hits. Slone was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in three of his five plate appearances with one run and one RBI.

Slone wasn't the only one making solid contact as six players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Ian Boykin, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with two runs.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Canton Central Catholic). They were the clear victors by an 11-0 margin over Tuscarawas Valley on Friday. The Crusaders might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five contests by six runs or more this season.

The win (which was Canton Central Catholic's fourth in a row) raised their record to 10-3. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for St. Vincent-St. Mary, they have been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four games. That's put a noticeable dent in their 8-6 record this season.

St. Vincent-St. Mary came out on top in a nail-biter against Canton Central Catholic when the teams last played back in April of 2023, sneaking past 3-1. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Fighting Irish since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.