Baseball Preview: St. Francis Red Raiders vs. St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute Marauders
The St. Francis Red Raiders will head out on the road to take on the St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute Marauders at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Tuesday, St. Francis had just enough and edged Williamsville North out 6-5.
Thomas Utter looked comfortable as he tossed an inning while giving up no earned runs or hits.
On the hitting side, Joseph Panzarella was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. He is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now stolen at least one in the last three games he's played.
Meanwhile, St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute came tearing into Wednesday's matchup with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 10.3 runs) and they left with even more momentum. Their pitchers stepped up to hand the Lancers a 2-0 shutout. St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute's pitching crew has been rock solid lately; the team hasn't given up a run in their last four contests.
Bryce Cureo tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and only one hit while striking out 14 over seven innings pitched.
At the plate, Bryce Mucica was excellent, going 1-for-4 with a triple, two RBI, and a run. Travis Greco was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.
St. Francis is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight games, which provided a massive bump to their 7-8 record this season. As for St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute, their win bumped their record up to 11-5.
St. Francis came out on top in a nail-biter against St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute when the teams last played back in June of 2023, sneaking past 6-5. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute's Brendon Parker, who struck out six batters over 5.2 innings while giving up just two earned (and four unearned) runs off six hits. Now that he won't be playing on Thursday, will it be that much easier for St. Francis to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
