Bishop Hendricken is on a 20-game streak of home wins (dating back to last season), while La Salle Academy is on a five-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Hawks will host the Rams at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Bishop Hendricken 2.2, La Salle Academy 3.3) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Bishop Hendricken is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Rhode Island's top teams: Smithfield, who was ranked sixth at the time (Bishop Hendricken was ranked first). The Hawks came out on top against the Sentinels by a score of 7-3 on Wednesday. The victory continues a trend for the Hawks in their matchups with the Sentinels: they've now won five in a row.
Mason Marchessault tossed a big game, pitching six innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off six hits.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Jacob Montenegro, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one run, one double, and one RBI. Those three hits gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Mason Crain, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two doubles and one run.
Bishop Hendricken was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .500. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, La Salle Academy posted their closest win since May 1, 2024 on Thursday. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past Lincoln 4-3.
La Salle Academy also got a great performance from Jairo Martinez as he struck out seven batters over five innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off five hits (and not a single walk). Martinez has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in three consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, La Salle Academy let Tony Natale and Thomas Malloy run wild. Natale went 1-for-2 with one home run, while Malloy went 1-for-3 with one home run and two RBI.
La Salle Academy is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 13-4 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 6.6 runs over those games. As for Bishop Hendricken, their victory bumped their record up to 16-1.
Bishop Hendricken took their win against La Salle Academy when the teams last played back in April by a conclusive 13-7 score. Will the Hawks repeat their success, or do the Rams have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
