Baseball Game Preview: Aquinas Fightin' Irish vs. Westside Patriots

After both having extra time off, the Aquinas Fightin' Irish and the Westside Patriots will shake off the rust and duke it out at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Aquinas will be strutting in after a victory while Westside will be coming in after a defeat.

Aquinas barely beat Academy of Richmond County the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Fightin' Irish blew past the Musketeers 11-3 last Friday. The Fightin' Irish might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 11 matches by eight runs or more this season.

CJ Johnson was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 2-for-4. The team also got some help courtesy of James Sherry, who scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.

Meanwhile, Westside came up short against Baldwin last Friday and fell 6-3.

Westside also got a good showing from DeAntre Charles, who tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. The dominant performance also gave Charles a new career-low in walks (one).

On the hitting side, Tristan Williamson made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 1-for-2 with one triple, one stolen base, and one run. Chase Burley was another key player, going 1-for-3 with two stolen bases and two RBI.

Aquinas' win bumped their record up to 14-7. As for Westside, their loss dropped their record down to 12-11.

Everything went Aquinas' way against Westside in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, as Aquinas made off with an 18-11 victory. Will the Fightin' Irish repeat their success, or do the Patriots have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.