The St. Anne-Pacelli Vikings will square off against the Heritage Hawks at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. St. Anne-Pacelli is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7 runs per game this season.
On Wednesday, St. Anne-Pacelli didn't have quite enough to beat Russell County and fell 3-2. The Vikings have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Nathan Boatner was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he struck out eight batters over 6.2 innings while giving up just two earned runs off five hits. Those eight strikeouts gave him a new career-high.
On the hitting side, St. Anne-Pacelli saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Merrick Miller, who scored a run while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances. Another was Jaycob Veloz, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base.
Meanwhile, Heritage won against Drew Charter on Friday with three runs and they decided to stick to that run total again on Saturday. Heritage skirted past Stony Brook 3-2. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Hawks.
The team relied heavily on Lennon Campbell, who went 1-for-3 with one home run and two RBI. He also scored a run, marking his first of the season. Landon Justice was another key player, going 2-for-3 with one double.
St. Anne-Pacelli's loss dropped their record down to 4-3. As for Heritage, their win bumped their record up to 2-3.
St. Anne-Pacelli's speedy runners might be the difference in Thursday's matchup. St. Anne-Pacelli has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3 stolen bases per game. It's a different story for Heritage, though, as they've been averaging only 0.2 stolen bases. Will they be able to secure the bases, or will St. Anne-Pacelli continue to outrun the ball?
St. Anne-Pacelli beat Heritage 10-5 when the teams last played two weeks ago. Will St. Anne-Pacelli repeat their success, or does Heritage have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
