Baseball Game Preview: St. Pius X Sartans vs. Highland Hornets

St. Pius X has gone a perfect 10-0 against Highland recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Sartans will host the Hornets at 3:30 p.m. St. Pius X is coming into the game hot, having won their last four games.

St. Pius X had to skate by with only a one-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the seven-run drubbing they dealt Valencia on Friday. The Sartans were the clear victors by a 9-2 margin over the Jaguars.

Nathaniel Miera

Earned Runs

04/12/25 @ Rio Grande	5
03/29/25 vs Albuquerque Academy	1

Nathaniel Miera looked comfortable as he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has become a key player for St. Pius X: the team is undefeated when he allows at most one earned run, but 9-11 otherwise.

At the plate, Joaquin Aragon was excellent, getting on base in all three of his plate appearances with two runs and one double. Michael Deller was another key player, going a perfect 2-for-2 with two RBI and one double.

Valencia hit Highland with a seven-run second inning on Tuesday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Hornets lost 14-4 to the Jaguars.

Highland saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Davi Shima, who went 1-for-3 with one run and one double. Bryce Mangum also deserves some recognition as he hit his first triple of the season.

St. Pius X pushed their record up to 14-11 with the win, which was their sixth straight at home. The home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.2 runs over those games. As for Highland, they have traveled a rocky road recently, having lost nine of their last ten contests. That's put a noticeable dent in their 5-16-1 record this season.

Everything went St. Pius X's way against Highland in their previous matchup two weeks ago, as St. Pius X made off with a 17-5 win. Will the Sartans repeat their success, or do the Hornets have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.