The Conwell-Egan Catholic Eagles will square off against the Archbishop Ryan Raiders and Ragdolls at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Conwell-Egan Catholic took a loss when they played away from home on Wednesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They walked away with a 6-3 victory over Central.
Joey Ortiz
| 04/02/25 vs Cardinal O'Hara | 2 |
| 05/01/25 vs Central | 1 |
Joey Ortiz spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned (and two unearned) runs on five hits. He has become a key player for Conwell-Egan Catholic: the team is 2-1 when he allows at most two earned runs, but 5-6 otherwise.
At the plate, Denny Fife was excellent, going 1-for-2 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run. Those two RBI gave him a new career-high. Connor Landau was another key player, going 1-for-2 with two runs and one stolen base.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Ryan had already won four in a row and they went ahead and made it five on Monday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand the Crusaders a 3-0 shutout.
Not much got past Sean Cahill, who gave up just six hits and racked up six Ks to keep Lansdale Catholic off the board. Cahill has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Archbishop Ryan saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jake Marchesano, who went 2-for-4 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
Archbishop Ryan's win bumped their record up to 13-6. As for Conwell-Egan Catholic, the victory got them back to even at 7-7.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Wednesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Conwell-Egan Catholic has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.1 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Archbishop Ryan struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 6.8 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Conwell-Egan Catholic beat Archbishop Ryan 6-1 when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Will the Eagles repeat their success, or do the Raiders and Ragdolls have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
