The Ingraham Rams will head out to challenge the Eastside Catholic Crusaders at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Ingraham is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.7 runs per game this season.
Ingraham barely beat Cleveland the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Rams put the hurt on the Eagles with a sharp 15-1 victory on Wednesday. The Rams haven't had any issues with the Eagles recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive win against them.
Blake Stauff spent all five innings played on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on five hits and racked up nine Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in nine consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Harry Hayes was incredible, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with three stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI. What's more, he posted two hits, the most he's had since back in March. Another player making a difference was Bryce Campbell, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with three RBI and two runs.
Meanwhile, it may have taken nine innings to finish the job, but Eastside Catholic ultimately got the result they hoped for on Wednesday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against O'Dea, sneaking past 2-1.
Will Sharp looked comfortable as he pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit.
On the hitting side, Eastside Catholic's victory was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Kai Jambor, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one RBI.
Ingraham pushed their record up to 14-4 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. The road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.0 runs over those games. As for Eastside Catholic, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five games. That's provided a nice bump to their 10-6 record this season.
Ingraham might still be hurting after the 8-1 defeat they got from Eastside Catholic when the teams last played back in March of 2024. Can the Rams avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
