St. Mary's Academy is 0-6 against South Plaquemines since March of 2016 but things could change on Saturday. The Cougars will be playing in front of their home fans against the Hurricanes at 12:30 p.m. St. Mary's Academy is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 12.9 runs per game this season.
St. Mary's Academy's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. Everything went their way against St. Katharine Drexel as they made off with a 15-0 win. Considering the Cougars have won eight games by more than nine runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Danielle Beard made a splash while hitting and pitching. She tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. Those hits were her first of the season. She was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with one home run, two runs, and one stolen base.
In other batting news, St. Mary's Academy let Carin Marshall and Nave Batiste run wild. Marshall went a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, two stolen bases, and three RBI, while Batiste scored three runs and stole five bases while going 2-for-2. Those two hits gave Batiste a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Chloe Harris, who scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in two of her three plate appearances.
St. Mary's Academy kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 4.6 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 contests they've averaged 9.8.
Meanwhile, Friday just wasn't the day for South Plaquemines' offense. They might be feeling deja-vu: they lost 15-0 to Newman, which was the same score (and result) they got the week prior. The Hurricanes have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
South Plaquemines saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Shylen Prout, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with one stolen base.
St. Mary's Academy's victory bumped their record up to 8-6-1. As for South Plaquemines, their defeat was their first in the district, dropping their district record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 5-9.
Saturday's match might come down to which pitcher can control the ball better. St. Mary's Academy has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .719. However, it's not like South Plaquemines struggles in that department as they've averaged .581. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
St. Mary's Academy might still be hurting after the 21-1 loss they got from South Plaquemines in their previous meeting back in March of 2023. Can the Cougars avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
