Baseball Game Preview: Clark Montessori Cougars vs. Norwood Indians

The Clark Montessori Cougars will venture away from home to face off against the Norwood Indians at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Clark Montessori is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 9.4 runs per game this season.

Norwood will be up against a hot Clark Montessori squad: the team just extended their winning streak to three. The Cougars never let Lockland get on the board and left with a 19-0 win on Tuesday. That 19 run margin sets a new team best for the Cougars this season.

Ethan Ernst

Batters Struck Out

04/15/25 vs Lockland	9
04/01/25 vs North College Hill	1
05/13/24 vs Deer Park	1
05/09/24 vs Hughes	4
05/02/24 vs New Miami	7
+ 5 more games

Ethan Ernst made a splash no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out nine batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and not a single walk). That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in March of 2024. He was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-3. He has become a key player for Clark Montessori: the team is 4-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 1-3 otherwise.

In other batting news, Clark Montessori got a massive performance out of Garvin Dixon, who went 2-for-3 with four RBI, two runs, and one triple. The Cougars are undefeated when Dixon posts two or more runs, but 2-4 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Cian Wright, who scored three runs and stole two bases while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances.

Clark Montessori always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .710. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their OBP total in four consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, Norwood hadn't done well against Purcell Marian recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Wednesday. The Indians had just enough and edged out the Cavaliers 2-0.

Norwood's victory was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-2 and their overall record up to 4-4. As for Clark Montessori, they now have a winning record of 5-4.

Clark Montessori came up short against Norwood in their previous matchup back in May of 2023, falling 5-1. Can the Cougars avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.