Clay has gone 9-1 against St. Francis de Sales recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The Eagles will challenge the Knights at 5:00 p.m. Clay's pitching crew has only allowed three runs per game this season, so St. Francis de Sales' hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Clay is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. Everything went their way against Springfield on Wednesday as they made off with an 11-0 win. The team's explosion at the plate also rewarded the Eagles with their most commanding win of the season.
Darin Fussell made a splash no matter where he played. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out eight over seven innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing a base while getting on base in two of his five plate appearances.
Hudson Byers
| 04/16/25 @ Springfield | 5 |
| 03/29/25 @ Atherton | 2 |
| 03/28/25 @ Eastern | 1 |
| 05/02/24 @ Findlay | 1 |
| 04/29/24 @ Bowling Green | 1 |
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Hudson Byers, who went 2-for-5 with two stolen bases, five RBI, and one run. Those five RBI gave him a new career-high. Ian DeWitt was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 1-for-3.
Clay always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .523. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Springfield only posted an OBP of .167.
Meanwhile, St. Francis de Sales suffered their biggest loss since May 2, 2024 on Wednesday. They came up short against St. Mary's Prep, falling 11-3. The defeat continues a trend for the Knights in their meetings with the Eaglets: they've now lost three in a row.
St. Francis de Sales saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Brady Mitchey, who scored a run while going 1-for-2. Ethan Heigert also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.
Clay has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five games. That's provided a nice bump to their 4-3 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.6 runs on average over those games. As for St. Francis de Sales, their loss dropped their record down to 5-3.
Clay beat St. Francis de Sales 7-3 in their previous meeting back in April of 2024. Do the Eagles have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Knights turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
