Danbury hasn't had much luck against St. Mary Central Catholic recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Lakers are taking a road trip to square off against the Panthers at 5:00 p.m. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Danbury was handed a six-run loss in their previous outing, but that didn't affect their clutch gene on Tuesday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 4-2 win over St. Joseph Central Catholic. The Lakers haven't had any issues with the Crimson Streaks recently, as the game was their third consecutive victory against them.
Danbury's win was truly a team effort as four different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Tommy Dean, who went 1-for-4 with one stolen base and one RBI.
Meanwhile, St. Mary Central Catholic had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8.7 runs) and they went ahead and made it four on Tuesday. Everything went their way against the Eagles as they made off with a 14-1 victory. With that win, the Panthers brought their scoring average up to 6.2 runs per game.
Eli Dinsmore tossed a big game, striking out seven batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off six hits (and only one walk). He has been consistent: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, St. Mary Central Catholic let Blake Finneran and Reid Wikel run wild. Finneran went a perfect 1-for-1 with three stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI, while Wikel went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. Wikel is becoming a predictor of St. Mary Central Catholic's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 8-10 when he doesn't). The team also got some help courtesy of Cayden Wikel, who went 1-for-2 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI.
St. Mary Central Catholic always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .571. The last time their OBP was this high was back in May of 2024.
Danbury's record is now 8-17. As for St. Mary Central Catholic, their record now sits at 15-10.
Danbury couldn't quite get it done against St. Mary Central Catholic in their previous meeting on May 5th as they fell 5-2. Can the Lakers avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
