Baseball Game Preview: Shenandoah Valley Blue Devils vs. Marian Catholic

The Shenandoah Valley Blue Devils will head out to face off against Marian Catholic at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

For some reason, the away team has come away with the win the last five times Shenandoah Valley and Williams Valley have met, but the home crowd finally got their W on Tuesday. The Blue Devils blew past the Vikings 12-2. The victory continues a trend for the Blue Devils in their matchups with the Vikings: they've now won three in a row.

Brayden Maksimik made a big impact no matter where he played. He didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out eight over five innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in six consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with two runs and one stolen base. He has become a key player for Shenandoah Valley: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 3-4 otherwise.

Landon Monaghan

Runs (Career)

04/22/25 vs Williams Valley	3
04/09/25 vs Nativity BVM	2
03/27/25 @ Williams Valley	2
04/30/24 @ Mahanoy Area	2
04/09/24 @ Marian Catholic	2

In other batting news, Shenandoah Valley got a big performance out of Landon Monaghan, who went 1-for-2 with three runs, one stolen base, and one RBI. Those three runs gave Monaghan a new career-high. Chase McCole was another key player, going 1-for-2 with four RBI, one run, and one double.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Marian Catholic). They were the clear victors by a 29-1 margin over Weatherly on Tuesday. The win made it back-to-back victories for Marian Catholic.

Marian Catholic pushed their record up to 7-7 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. The road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 14.7 runs over those games. As for Shenandoah Valley, their record is now 10-4.

Shenandoah Valley couldn't quite finish off Marian Catholic in their previous meeting on April 1st and fell 3-1. Can the Blue Devils avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.