Baseball Game Preview: Manchester Academy Mavericks vs. St. Joseph Fighting Irish

For the second straight game, Manchester Academy will face off against St. Joseph. The Mavericks will be playing in front of their home fans against the Fighting Irish at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Manchester Academy has five straight wins, St. Joseph has four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Manchester Academy's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They were the clear victors by an 18-0 margin over St. Joseph. The result was nothing new for the Mavericks, who have now won 16 contests by six runs or more so far this season.

Jon Parker Dees made a splash while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. What's more, he posted five strikeouts, the most he's had since back in March. He was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing three bases while going 1-for-2. He is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged two or more in each of the last three games he's played.

Grant Nixon

Runs Batted In (Career)

04/01/25 @ St. Joseph	5
03/20/25 vs Deer Creek	2
03/17/25 vs Yazoo City	2
03/06/25 @ Carroll Academy	2
02/10/25 @ Kirk Academy	2

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Grant Nixon, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with five RBI, three runs, and one stolen base. Those five RBI gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Jake Louis Paul, who scored three runs while going 2-for-2.

Manchester Academy hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team has now struck out at least five strikeouts batters in five consecutive games.

Manchester Academy's victory was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 23-6. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.2 runs on average over those games. As for St. Joseph, their loss dropped their record down to 1-4.