The St. Raphael Academy Saints will challenge the South Kingstown Rebels at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams are strolling into their games after big wins in their previous games.
St. Raphael Academy is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Rhode Island's top teams: North Kingstown, who was ranked 12th at the time (St. Raphael Academy was ranked seventh). The Saints never let the Skippers get on the board and left with a 9-0 victory on Monday. While the Saints didn't have the best season last year (they finished 5-14), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.
Isabella Sousa made a splash no matter where she played. She didn't allow a single earned run while striking out 20 over seven innings pitched. Sousa was also solid in the batter's box, going a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs and one double. That double marked the first that she has hit this season.
In other batting news, Sophie Roman was incredible, going 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBI.
St. Raphael Academy was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .394. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as North Kingstown only posted a batting average of .185.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask South Kingstown). They were the clear victors by a 19-11 margin over Narragansett on Monday. With that win, the Rebels brought their scoring average up to 7 runs per game.
South Kingstown let Tessa O'Sullivan and Grace Palmieri run wild. O'Sullivan got on base in all six of her plate appearances with four runs, two stolen bases, and one triple, while Palmieri went 4-for-5 with four runs, four RBI, and one stolen base. The team also got some help courtesy of Abigail O'Rourke, who got on base in four of her six plate appearances with three RBI, one run, and one double.
South Kingstown has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 4-6 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.5 runs over those games. As for St. Raphael Academy, they pushed their record up to 5-1 with the win, which was their third straight at home.
South Kingstown's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: St. Raphael Academy has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 8.7 hits per game. It's a different story for South Kingstown, though, as they've been averaging 11.5 hits. Given St. Raphael Academy's sizable advantage in that area, the Rebels will need to find a way to close that gap.
St. Raphael Academy took their victory against South Kingstown in their previous meeting back in May of 2022 by a conclusive 12-4 score. Do the Saints have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Rebels turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
