Cathedral Catholic has won four straight games at home, while Patrick Henry has won four straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Friday. The Dons will welcome the Patriots at 4:00 p.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Cathedral Catholic 2.5, Patrick Henry 3.1) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Cathedral Catholic is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Southwest EC a 7-0 shutout. The Dons might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 12 matchups by six runs or more this season.
Not much got past Kaden Kuhn, who gave up just five hits to keep Southwest EC off the board. Kuhn has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in 15 consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Alex Harrington was incredible, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with three runs, one triple, and one stolen base. He continues to improve, besting his previous run total in each of the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Ty Daniels, who went 2-for-4 with one stolen base and two RBI.
Patrick Henry came out on top against Rancho Bernardo on Wednesday thanks in part to the team's impressive five-run third inning. The Patriots took their game against the Broncos 6-3.
Tyson Bobo tossed a big game, tossing 5.2 innings while giving up just two earned runs off four hits.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Parks Kronk-Hawley, who went 1-for-3 with one home run and four RBI. Those four RBI gave him a new career-high.
Cathedral Catholic's win bumped their record up to 25-4. As for Patrick Henry, their victory bumped their record up to 20-8.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Cathedral Catholic has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.3 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Patrick Henry struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 7.6 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Cathedral Catholic couldn't quite get it done against Patrick Henry when the teams last played back in April as they fell 6-3. Can the Dons avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.