The Mount St. Joseph Gaels will head out to square off against the John Carroll Patriots at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. Mount St. Joseph's pitching crew has only allowed 3.7 runs per game this season, so John Carroll's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Mount St. Joseph took a 12-run loss the last time they faced off against Archbishop Spalding, but this time they managed to keep it close and that made all the difference. The Gaels narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past the Cavaliers 5-4. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last four times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.
Meanwhile, John Carroll faced Archbishop Curley in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Thursday. The Patriots never let the Friars get on the board and left with a 17-0 win. Considering the Patriots have won 11 games by more than six runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Kiernan Deremeik tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only one hit over five innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive appearances.
At the plate, John Carroll got a massive performance out of Casey Carpenter, who went 2-for-4 with one home run and three runs. That's the most runs Carpenter has posted since back in March. The team also got some help courtesy of Joey Coudon, who went 1-for-3 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs.
John Carroll was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .481. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .321 or higher in three consecutive contests.
Mount St. Joseph's victory was their eighth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-6. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.0 runs over those games. As for John Carroll, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won ten of their last 11 matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 19-6-1 record this season.
Mount St. Joseph suffered a grim 15-8 defeat to John Carroll in their previous matchup back in March of 2024. Can the Gaels avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
