The St. Francis Red Raiders will venture away from home to face off against the Cathedral Prep Ramblers at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Monday just wasn't the day for St. Francis' offense. They took a 4-0 hit to the loss column at the hands of Nichols on Monday. Having soared to a lofty 14 runs in the game before, the Red Raiders' shutout was a dramatic turnaround.
St. Francis saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Luke Panzarella, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with one stolen base. Aidan Curran also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.
Meanwhile, Cathedral Prep had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 12 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Monday. They put the hurt on the Dragons with a sharp 14-4 win. The result was nothing new for the Ramblers, who have now won seven matches by seven runs or more so far this season.
Matthew Boam tossed a big game, pitching five innings while giving up three earned (and one unearned) runs off five hits. He has been consistent: he hasn't given up more than one walk in six consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Andrew Costello, who went 2-for-3 with one home run, four RBI, and two runs. He is also on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged at least one in each of the last four games he's played. AJ Sirianni was another key player, going a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs, one triple, and one double.
Cathedral Prep always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .600. That was just more of the same: they've now posted an OBP of .568 or higher in three consecutive games.
Cathedral Prep pushed their record up to 13-5 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.5 runs on average over those games. As for St. Francis, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-10-1.
St. Francis skirted past Cathedral Prep 7-5 when the teams last played back in May of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Red Raiders since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
