The St. Catherine's Saints will square off against the Bishop O'Connell Knights at 1:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with St. Catherine's sitting on eight straight victories and Bishop O'Connell on 42 (dating back to last season).
St. Catherine's is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They blew past Trinity Episcopal 11-1. The result was nothing new for the Saints, who have now won 19 games by six runs or more so far this season.
Kinnady Branch made a splash no matter where she played. On the mound, she tossed four innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in 12 consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with two runs and one stolen base.
Armorel Lucas
| 05/15/25 vs Trinity Episcopal | 3 |
| 05/14/25 vs Flint Hill | 2 |
| 04/15/25 vs Saint Gertrude | 2 |
| 05/08/25 vs Trinity Episcopal | 1 |
| 04/29/25 @ Brunswick Academy | 1 |
In other batting news, St. Catherine's got a massive performance out of Armorel Lucas, who went 3-for-4 with four RBI, one run, and one double. Those three hits gave Lucas a new career-high. Izzy Viruet was another key player, going 2-for-3 with three runs, one stolen base, and two RBI.
St. Catherine's was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .429. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .379 or higher in seven consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Bishop O'Connell faced Paul VI in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Thursday. The Knights put the hurt on the Panthers with a sharp 13-4 win. Considering the Knights have won 14 contests by more than six runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Bishop O'Connell let Emma Prykanowski and MJ Melvin run wild. Prykanowski went 1-for-3 with one home run and three RBI, while Melvin went 2-for-4 with two runs, two RBI, and one double. The team also got some help courtesy of Abby Bond, who got on base in three of her five plate appearances with two RBI and one run.
Bishop O'Connell's victory bumped their record up to 19-0. As for St. Catherine's, their win bumped their record up to 23-2.
Friday's game will be a test for both teams' pitchers. St. Catherine's hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .392. However, it's not like Bishop O'Connell struggles in that department as they've averaged .453. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
St. Catherine's suffered a grim 10-0 defeat to Bishop O'Connell when the teams last played back in May of 2023. Can the Saints avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
