Baseball Game Preview: Sherman Tide vs. St. Joseph Central Irish

The Sherman Tide will head out on the road to take on the St. Joseph Central Irish at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

If Sherman beats St. Joseph Central with 13 runs on Friday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two contests with that exact score. Everything went Sherman's way against Mingo Central on Thursday as Sherman made off with a 13-5 win. Considering the Tide have won four games by more than seven runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.

Luke Tagliente

Runs

03/27/25 vs Mingo Central	3
03/25/25 vs Capital	2
03/21/25 vs Hannan	2
03/13/25 vs Richwood	1

Luke Tagliente made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one hit in three consecutive appearances. He was even better at the plate, scoring three runs and stealing a base while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances. Sherman is undefeated when Tagliente posts two or more runs, but 1-2 otherwise.

In other batting news, Oliver Harless was incredible, scoring a run while getting on base in all five of his plate appearances. He also put up a double, which was his first of the season. Bryce Mooney was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing a base while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.

Meanwhile, St. Joseph Central put another one in the bag on Thursday to keep their perfect season alive. Everything went their way against Van as St. Joseph Central made off with an 18-3 victory. The matchup marked the Irish's most dominant win of the season so far.

St. Joseph Central pushed their record up to 5-0 with the victory, which was their fourth straight on the road. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.0 runs over those games. As for Sherman, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 4-2 record this season.

Sherman beat St. Joseph Central 4-0 when the teams last played back in May of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for Sherman since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.