Carrollwood Day is 0-6 against Tampa Catholic since March of 2021 but things could change on Monday. The Carrollwood Day Patriots will challenge the Tampa Catholic Crusaders at 7:00 p.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average, (Carrollwood Day 3.1, Tampa Catholic 2.5) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Tampa Catholic will be up against a hot Carrollwood Day team: the squad just extended their winning streak to three. Carrollwood Day came out on top against Armwood by a score of 6-2 on Saturday.
Nick Riedel was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out 12 over five innings pitched. Riedel was also big at the plate, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with one home run and two RBI. What's more, he posted two hits, the most he's had since back in May of 2024.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Allen Soriano, who went 2-for-4 with one home run and three RBI. Another player making a difference was Christian Clarke, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
Carrollwood Day kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 13 hits. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 5.6 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 contests they've averaged 9.
Meanwhile, Tampa Catholic fought the good fight in their extra-innings matchup against Sickles on Saturday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Gryphons by a score of 13-12. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Wednesday (11), the Crusaders still had to take the loss.
Jose Carrero stepped up to lead a balanced group of hitters: he scored two runs while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. Carson Arnold was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing Two bases. while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.
Tampa Catholic's defeat ended an 11-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 12-3. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.5 runs on average over those games. As for Carrollwood Day, their record now sits at 9-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Carrollwood Day has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Tampa Catholic struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.4 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
