The Salpointe Catholic Lancers will square off against the Catalina Foothills Falcons at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Salpointe Catholic 3.1, Catalina Foothills 3.4) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Salpointe Catholic's usually-dominant pitching crew will be looking to make up for Friday's struggle, when Nogales hitters got past them. The Lancers came up short against the Apaches on Friday, falling 11-1. The contest marked the Lancers' lowest-scoring game so far this season.
Salpointe Catholic saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Colton Raetzman, who went 1-for-2 with one run.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Catalina Foothills). They were the clear victors by a 27-9 margin over Rincon/University on Friday. Considering the Falcons have won 12 matches by more than five runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Alek Leyva was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up a single hit in three consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with one run and one RBI.
In other pitching news, Isaac Kirkendall looked comfortable as he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off six hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (four).
Back at the plate, Catalina Foothills let Nate Shoemaker and Evan Messenger run wild. Shoemaker went a perfect 2-for-2 with one home run, five RBI, and two runs, while Messenger went a perfect 3-for-3 with four RBI, two doubles, and one stolen base. Those five RBI gave Shoemaker a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Bryce Weege, who went 1-for-2 with three RBI, two runs, and one stolen base.
Catalina Foothills always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .646. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Catalina Foothills is on a roll lately: they've won 11 of their last 13 games. That's provided a nice bump to their 20-5 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.8 runs on average over those games. As for Salpointe Catholic, their loss dropped their record down to 20-4-1.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Salpointe Catholic has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Catalina Foothills struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 6.7 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Salpointe Catholic skirted past Catalina Foothills 3-2 when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Will the Lancers repeat their success, or do the Falcons have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
