Baseball Game Preview: Bishop Hendricken Hawks vs. Smithfield Sentinels

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Previous Games

05/14/25 - Home	7-3 W
04/21/24 - Home	13-3 W
04/21/23 - Away	6-1 W
05/18/22 - Home	9-2 W
05/14/22 - Away	12-2 W
+ 3 more games

Bishop Hendricken has gone 7-1 against Smithfield recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Tuesday. The Hawks will be playing in front of their home fans against the Sentinels at 4:30 p.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Bishop Hendricken 3.2, Smithfield 3.4) so any runs scored will be well earned.

Bishop Hendricken is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another highly-ranked state team: Xaverian Brothers, who was ranked sixth in their home state at the time (Bishop Hendricken was ranked first). Bishop Hendricken took a 10-6 hit to the loss column at the hands of Xaverian Brothers on Sunday. The pitching woes were uncharacteristic for Bishop Hendricken, who until this game were averaging 3.25 runs allowed.

Meanwhile, it was close, but on Sunday Smithfield sidestepped Westerly for a 6-5 win. The Sentinels haven't had any issues with the Bulldogs recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive victory against them.

Luca Simonelli looked comfortable as he pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. He is becoming a predictor of Smithfield's success: when he allows at most one earned run the team is undefeated (and 6-8 when he doesn't).

On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Sean Dwyer, who got on base in four of his five plate appearances with one home run, two stolen bases, and three RBI. That home run marked the first that he has launched this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Gio Esposito, who went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases and one run.

Smithfield kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their hit total in three consecutive contests.

Smithfield's win bumped their record up to 14-8. As for Bishop Hendricken, with the loss, they broke their three-game winning streak and moved their record to 19-5.

Bishop Hendricken was able to grind out a solid victory over Smithfield in their previous matchup two weeks ago, winning 7-3. Will the Hawks repeat their success, or do the Sentinels have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.