The John Paul II Catholic Saints will venture away from home to face off against the Gaston Christian Eagles at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as John Paul II Catholic comes in on three and Gaston Christian on seven.
John Paul II Catholic is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Saturday. They walked away with a 13-10 victory over High Point Christian Academy. That's two games straight that the Saints have won by exactly three runs.
Max Mason was incredible, getting on base in three of his five plate appearances with one home run, three runs, and four RBI. That's the most runs he has posted since back in March. The team also got some help courtesy of Joseph Caporosssi, who went 2-for-5 with two stolen bases, four RBI, and one double.
Meanwhile, Gaston Christian owes their pitching crew a big pat on the back after their performance on Saturday. Everything went their way against Greensboro Day School as they made off with a 9-0 win. Considering the Eagles have won nine contests by more than seven runs this season, Saturday's blowout was nothing new.
Gaston Christian also got a great performance from Cooper Summerlin as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out six over six innings pitched. Summerlin has been consistent: he hasn't given up more than two walks in eight consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Gaston Christian's victory was truly a team effort as six different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Logan Davis, who went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, three runs, and one double. Meridian Leffew was another, going 1-for-3 with one run and one RBI.
Gaston Christian pushed their record up to 17-2 with the win, which was their fifth straight at home. The home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.0 runs over those games. As for John Paul II Catholic, their record now sits at 16-9.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. John Paul II Catholic has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Gaston Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 8.5 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.
