Chicago Hope Academy will venture away from home to face off against the Bishop McNamara Fightin' Irish at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, these teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Chicago Hope Academy took a loss when they played away from home on Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Saturday. They put the hurt on Amundsen with a sharp 12-1 win. Considering Chicago Hope Academy has won 12 games by more than five runs this season, Saturday's blowout was nothing new.
Davian Villalobos was a major factor no matter where he played. He pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in eight consecutive appearances. He was even better at the plate, going a perfect 2-for-2 with one home run, two runs, and one stolen base. That's the most runs he has posted since back in April.
Matthew Mendez
| 05/10/25 vs Amundsen | 3 |
| 03/28/25 vs McCallie | 2 |
| 03/18/25 vs Lincoln Park | 2 |
| 04/22/24 @ Chicago Christian | 2 |
| 04/15/24 @ Timothy Christian | 2 |
In other batting news, Matthew Mendez was incredible, going 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, three RBI, and one run. Those three RBI gave him a new career-high. Aj Lajeune also deserves some recognition as he launched his first home run of the season.
Chicago Hope Academy always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .571. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Amundsen only posted an OBP of .320.
Meanwhile, Bishop McNamara had already won nine in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 9.3 runs) and they went ahead and made it ten on Monday. They walked away with a 14-9 victory over the Lions.
Bishop McNamara got a massive performance out of Taylor Fuerst, who went 3-for-5 with three runs, one triple, and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Callahan O'Connor, who went 2-for-4 with five RBI and two doubles.
Chicago Hope Academy is on a roll lately: they've won ten of their last 12 contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 21-9 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.8 runs on average over those games. As for Bishop McNamara, their victory was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 21-6.
Chicago Hope Academy came out on top in a nail-biter against Bishop McNamara in their previous matchup back in April, sneaking past 4-2. The rematch might be a little tougher for Chicago Hope Academy since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
