St. Mary's Ryken is 2-8 against Bishop O'Connell since April of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. St. Mary's Ryken will venture away from home to face off against Bishop O'Connell at 4:30 p.m. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
While St. Mary's Ryken's win against The Heights wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Knights skirted past The Heights 4-3. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Knights.
Dillon Gordon spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered three earned runs on eight hits. He also tossed no walks, which is notable because St. Mary's Ryken is 4-2 when he allows at most one walk, but 9-11 otherwise.
Donovan Brown
| 05/01/25 vs The Heights | 3 |
| 03/12/25 vs Jackson-Reed | 2 |
| 03/25/24 @ Saint John Paul the Great Catholic | 2 |
| 04/29/25 @ Bishop McNamara | 1 |
| 04/17/25 vs Gonzaga | 1 |
At the plate, Donovan Brown was excellent, going 1-for-3 with three stolen bases, one run, and one RBI. Those three stolen bases gave him a new career-high.
St. Mary's Ryken hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. They are 6-2 when they post two or more strikeouts.
Meanwhile, Bishop O'Connell had already won ten in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 6.1 runs) and they went ahead and made it 11 on Monday. They came within a single run of losing the streak, but they secured a 4-3 W against the Falcons.
Shota Fogus looked comfortable as he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one hit in three consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Jack Woda, who went 2-for-3 with one home run, four RBI, and one double. The team also got some help courtesy of Chris Connolly, who went 2-for-3 with two runs.
Bishop O'Connell's victory was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 20-4. They've had to fight for that success though, as they only beat their opponents by an average of 2.43 runs across that stretch. As for St. Mary's Ryken, the win got them back to even at 13-13.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Friday as neither team is afraid to steal. St. Mary's Ryken has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 4.5 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Bishop O'Connell struggles in that department as they've been averaging 3.4 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.
St. Mary's Ryken couldn't quite finish off Bishop O'Connell in their previous meeting back in April and fell 7-5. Can St. Mary's Ryken avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
