Baseball Game Preview: Catholic Central Crusaders vs. Shadyside Tigers

The Catholic Central Crusaders will head out on the road to take on the Shadyside Tigers at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Neither of those teams managed to put together many runs in their previous contests, so the offenses might be a little more motivated than usual.

The home team had won the previous three meetings between Catholic Central and Weir, and Weir kept the tradition alive. The Crusaders lost 15-1 to the Red Riders last Tuesday. The loss continues a trend for the Crusaders in their meetings with the Red Riders: they've now lost three in a row.

Catholic Central saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Eli Fayak, who went 1-for-2 with one double.

Meanwhile, Shadyside fell victim to Caldwell and their airtight pitching crew on Wednesday. They took a 4-0 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Redskins. The Tigers have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Having lost for the first time this season, Catholic Central fell to 2-1. As for Shadyside, the defeat was their first at home , dropping their record down to 2-2.

Shadyside's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Catholic Central has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .466. It's a different story for Shadyside, though, as they've only averaged .319. Will they be able to contain Catholic Central's hitters?

Catholic Central took their win against Shadyside in their previous meeting back in May of 2024 by a conclusive 11-1 score. Will the Crusaders repeat their success, or do the Tigers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.