The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will challenge the Oakfield-Alabama Hornets at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Oakfield-Alabama will challenge a team with plenty of momentum: Notre Dame extended their winning streak to four on Tuesday. The Fighting Irish's pitcher stepped up to hand Webber a 10-0 shutout. The Fighting Irish's pitching crew has been rock solid lately; the team hasn't given up a run in their last three games.
Liam Berger
| 05/13/25 vs Webber | 4 |
| 05/12/25 vs Alexander | 1 |
| 04/29/25 @ Pembroke | 1 |
| 04/28/25 @ Webber | 1 |
| 04/23/25 vs Albion | 1 |
Liam Berger made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only one hit while striking out eight over five innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two hits in five consecutive appearances. He was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with four RBI and one double. Those four RBI gave him a new career-high.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Chase Antinore, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two runs, one stolen base, and one double. Carson Daniels was another key player, getting on base in two of his three plate appearances with three runs and one RBI.
Notre Dame hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. The team has now struck out at least five batters in four consecutive matchups.
Oakfield-Alabama never got on the board in their matchup on Monday, but that sure wasn't the case in their game against Letchworth on Tuesday. They were the clear victors by a 14-7 margin over the Legends. The victory continues a trend for the Hornets in their matchups with the Legends: they've now won three in a row.
Jack Cianfrini was incredible, going 3-for-4 with five stolen bases and four runs. He has become a key player for Oakfield-Alabama: the team is 3-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 3-5 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Ryan Schnaufer, who went 2-for-5 with two stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI.
The win got Oakfield-Alabama back to even at 6-6. As for Notre Dame, their victory bumped their record up to 11-2.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Notre Dame has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.5 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Oakfield-Alabama struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.8 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Notre Dame beat Oakfield-Alabama 4-0 when the teams last played on Monday. Will the Fighting Irish repeat their success, or do the Hornets have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
