The Tinley Park Titans will square off against the Marian Catholic Spartans at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Tinley Park has five straight victories, Marian Catholic has nine straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Tinley Park barely beat Reavis the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Titans put the hurt on the Rams with a sharp 11-5 win on Tuesday. Considering the Titans have won 11 matches by more than five runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Emily Korduplewski spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered four earned (and one unearned) runs on seven hits.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Megan Piotrowski, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with four RBI, two runs, and one stolen base. That's the most RBI she has posted since back in April. The team also got some help courtesy of Leah Cruz, who went 3-for-4 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one double.
Tinley Park was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .419. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Reavis only posted a batting average of .241.
Meanwhile, Marian Catholic didn't have quite enough to beat St. Laurence on Wednesday and fell 4-3. That's two games in a row now that the Spartans have lost by just one run.
Marian Catholic also let their pitcher toss all seven innings and she was also dialed-in: Jackie Pollock gave up just two earned (and two unearned) runs on seven hits and racked up 12 Ks.
At the plate, Gracie Jensen was cooking despite her team's loss, going 2-for-3 with one home run, three RBI, and one double.
Tinley Park's victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 18-10. The home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.0 runs over those games. As for Marian Catholic, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-15.
Marian Catholic's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Tinley Park hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .313. It's a different story for Marian Catholic, though, as they've only averaged .246. Will they be able to contain Tinley Park's hitters?
Everything went Tinley Park's way against Marian Catholic when the teams last played back in May of 2024, as Tinley Park made off with a 12-4 victory. Do the Titans have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Spartans turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
