The Aquinas Academy Crusaders are taking a road trip to face off against the Carrick Raiders at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, these teams will really light up the scoreboard.
On Tuesday, Aquinas Academy made easy work of St. Joseph and carried off an 11-2 victory. Considering the Crusaders have won four matches by more than seven runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Jonah Burchill
| 04/29/25 vs St. Joseph | 7 |
| 03/27/25 @ Summit Academy | 2 |
| 04/15/25 vs Leechburg | 1 |
| 05/07/24 @ Keystone Oaks | 1 |
| 04/27/24 @ Ligonier Valley | 1 |
Jonah Burchill was a major factor no matter where he played. He didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out seven over four innings pitched. Those seven strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs, one double, and one RBI. He is becoming a predictor of Aquinas Academy's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 3-1 (and 1-8 when he doesn't).
In other batting news, Jack Stanton was incredible, going 3-for-4 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one double. Aquinas Academy is 2-1 when Stanton posts two or more stolen bases, but 2-8 otherwise. Sam Welliver also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.
Aquinas Academy was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .387. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as St. Joseph only posted a batting average of .174.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Carrick, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Thursday. Everything went their way against Penn Hills on Monday as they made off with a 14-4 win.
Like Aquinas Academy, Carrick also got a great game from a two-way player: Eli Wittmann. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only one hit while striking out seven over four innings pitched. Wittmann was also big at the plate, going 3-for-4 with four RBI, two runs, and two doubles.
In other batting news, Riley Mares and Luzay Watson did most of the damage at the plate: Mares got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI, while Watson went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, three RBI, and two runs. Another player making a difference was Kelly Maxwell, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI, one run, and one double.
The victory got Carrick back to even at 6-6. As for Aquinas Academy, their win ended a five-game drought at home and bumped them up to 4-9.
