The St. Francis Fighting Saints will face off against the Rocori Spartans at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (St. Francis 2.1, Rocori 3.9) so any runs scored will be well earned.
On Friday, St. Francis didn't have quite enough to beat North Branch and fell 3-2. The Fighting Saints have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
St. Francis got a good showing from Nathaniel Esboldt, who tossed 3.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Esboldt has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run any time he's pitched this season.
On the hitting side, St. Francis saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Cooper Fiskewold, who went 2-for-3 with one run and one double. Tayler Hardie was another, going 2-for-3 with one stolen base and one RBI.
Meanwhile, Rocori waltzed into their match on Friday with nine straight wins... but they left with ten. They skirted past the Magic 5-3.
The team relied heavily on Zander Folkerts, who went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases and one run. The team also got some help courtesy of Jace Griffin, who went 2-for-3 with one double.
Rocori hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team has now struck out at least five batters in four consecutive contests.
Rocori pushed their record up to 11-2 with the win, which was their eighth straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.4 runs on average over those games. As for St. Francis, their defeat dropped their record down to 9-6.
St. Francis suffered a grim 11-1 defeat to Rocori in their previous meeting back in May of 2024. Will the Fighting Saints have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other baseball content.
