Baseball Preview: Niles Notre Dame Dons vs. Joliet Catholic Hilltoppers
Niles Notre Dame is 1-9 against Joliet Catholic since April of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Saturday. The Niles Notre Dame Dons will be playing at home against the Joliet Catholic Hilltoppers at 10:00 a.m. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Thursday, Niles Notre Dame earned a 6-2 victory over Lane Tech. The win made it back-to-back victories for Niles Notre Dame.
Nick Baffa made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He didn't allow a single earned run while striking out nine over six innings pitched. Baffa has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't tossed less than nine strikeouts in four consecutive pitching appearances. Baffa was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Tim Witchger, who went 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBI, and a double.
Meanwhile, in what's become a running theme this season, Joliet Catholic gave their fans yet another huge win on Thursday. Everything went their way against Marian Catholic as Joliet Catholic made off with an 11-4 victory. Winning may never get old, but Joliet Catholic sure is getting used to it with their third in a row.
Niles Notre Dame's win ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 8-7. As for Joliet Catholic, they pushed their record up to 14-2 with that victory, which was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season.
Niles Notre Dame beat Joliet Catholic 4-0 in their previous meeting back in May of 2023. Does Niles Notre Dame have another victory up their sleeve, or will Joliet Catholic turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
