The St. Joseph Regional Green Knights will head out on the road to face off against Pope John XXIII at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (St. Joseph Regional 3.8, Pope John XXIII 4.1) so any runs scored will be well earned.
St. Joseph Regional got their first taste of in-conference action on Monday and they started things off strong. They skirted past Paramus Catholic 3-2. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Green Knights.
Neylin Navarro
| 04/28/25 @ Paramus Catholic | 4 |
| 04/15/25 @ Ridgewood | 3 |
| 04/02/25 vs Pascack Hills | 3 |
| 04/23/25 @ Don Bosco Prep | 2 |
St. Joseph Regional got a great performance from Neylin Navarro as he tossed 5.1 innings while giving up just two earned runs off four hits. The dominant performance also gave Navarro a new career-high in strikeouts (four).
At the plate, Carter Grande was incredible, going 2-for-3 with one home run, one triple, and two RBI. That triple was his first of the season.
St. Joseph Regional always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .519. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, Pope John XXIII posted their closest victory since May 22, 2024 on Monday. They had just enough and edged out Chatham 4-2. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last four times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.
Justin Smith tossed a big game, tossing 4.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off three hits.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Alex Rakowsky, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one double. Will Ryan was another key player, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with one triple and two RBI.
Pope John XXIII is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matches. That's provided a massive bump to their 6-5 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.3 runs on average over those games. As for St. Joseph Regional, their record now sits at 14-6.
St. Joseph Regional came up short against Pope John XXIII in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, falling 5-2. Can the Green Knights avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
