The Gloucester Catholic Rams will venture away from home to square off against Gloucester County Tech at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Gloucester Catholic will come into the match with an undefeated record on the line.
Gloucester Catholic is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of New Jersey's top teams: Clearview, who was ranked 13th at the time (Gloucester Catholic was ranked second). The Rams sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 2-1 win over the Pioneers on Monday. Those two runs were actually the fewest the Rams have put up all season, but given the result they're probably not too concerned.
Jackson Smallets spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on four hits and racked up seven Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one earned run any time he's pitched this season.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Mike Angelo, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, one double, and one RBI. That RBI was his first of the season.
Gloucester Catholic hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Clearview struck out seven times.
Meanwhile, Gloucester County Tech didn't have quite enough to beat Sterling on Tuesday and fell 3-1.
Andrew Valey was huge no matter where he played even without the win. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out ten batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. That's the fewest hits he has allowed since back in May of 2024. He was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in all three of his plate appearances with one stolen base.
Valey wasn't the only one making solid contact as two players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Phil Murphy, who went 1-for-2 with one double and one RBI.
Gloucester Catholic pushed their record up to 6-0 with the victory, which was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.1 runs on average over those games. As for Gloucester County Tech, their loss dropped their record down to 2-8.
Gloucester Catholic beat Gloucester County Tech 7-4 in their previous matchup back in May of 2024. Do the Rams have another victory up their sleeve, or will Gloucester County Tech turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
