The Cardinal Mooney Cougars will square off against the Bishop McLaughlin Catholic Hurricanes at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. Cardinal Mooney is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last four games.
Cardinal Mooney is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They never let Out-of-Door Academy get on the board and left with a 4-0 win. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last five times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.
Not much got past Colton Hyde, who gave up just two hits to keep Out-of-Door Academy off the board. Hyde has been consistent for a while: he hasn't given up more than two walks in 11 consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Cardinal Mooney saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Austin Shields, who went 1-for-3 with one run and one double.
Cardinal Mooney hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team has now struck out at least five batters in four consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Bishop McLaughlin Catholic posted their closest victory since March 19th on Thursday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 5-3 win over Tampa Catholic.
Cooper Antalek tossed a big game, striking out six batters over 5.2 innings while giving up just two earned runs off two hits. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in March.
Cardinal Mooney pushed their record up to 20-7 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.7 runs on average over those games. As for Bishop McLaughlin Catholic, their victory bumped their record up to 13-14.
Bishop McLaughlin Catholic's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Cardinal Mooney hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .327. It's a different story for Bishop McLaughlin Catholic, though, as they've only averaged .234. Will they be able to contain Cardinal Mooney's hitters? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
