Baseball Game Preview: Union Catholic Vikings vs. Westfield Blue Devils

The Union Catholic Vikings will take on the Westfield Blue Devils at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Westfield took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on Union Catholic, who comes in off a win.

Union Catholic took a loss when they played away from home on Thursday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. Everything went their way against Dayton as they made off with a 10-3 win. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Vikings considering their two-run performance the game before.

Nick Anderson made a big impact no matter where he played. On the mound, he tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one walk in four consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going a perfect 2-for-2 with three RBI and one double. Those three RBI gave him a new career-high.

In other batting news, Greg Viloria was a standout: he went 1-for-4 with three stolen bases and two runs. Chris Wilson was another key player, going 1-for-3 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one double.

Meanwhile, Westfield faced Governor Livingston in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Monday. The Blue Devils fell just short of the Highlanders by a score of 8-7. The loss was the Blue Devils' first of the season.

Braeden Trajkovski made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 2-for-3 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Brian Jordan, who got on base in two of his four plate appearances with one run and one RBI.

Union Catholic pushed their record up to 6-3 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season. The home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.7 runs over those games. As for Westfield, their defeat was their first of the season and makes their record 7-1.

Union Catholic couldn't quite finish off Westfield in their previous matchup back in May of 2023 and fell 6-4. Will the Vikings have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.