Pope John XXIII will take on the St. Joseph Regional Green Knights at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Pope John XXIII took a loss when they played away from home on Thursday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed 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.
Pope John XXIII got a great performance from Justin Smith as he tossed 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. That run was his first of the season. Another player making a difference was Will Ryan, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one triple and two RBI.
Meanwhile, St. Joseph Regional played in-conference for the first time on Monday and got just the result they were looking for. They won by a run and slipped past Paramus Catholic 3-2. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Green Knights.
Neylin Navarro tossed a big game, tossing 5.1 innings while giving up just two earned runs off four hits. The dominant performance also gave him 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.
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.
St. Joseph Regional's win bumped their record up to 14-6. As for Pope John XXIII, they now have a winning record of 6-5.
Pope John XXIII was able to grind out a solid victory over St. Joseph Regional in their previous matchup back in April of 2024, winning 5-2. Will Pope John XXIII repeat their success, or does St. Joseph Regional has a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
