The Archbishop Wood Vikings will take on the St. Joseph's Prep Hawks at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Archbishop Wood 3.2, St. Joseph's Prep 4.1) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Archbishop Wood's usually-dominant pitching crew will be looking to make up for Saturday's struggle, when Central hitters got past them. The Vikings lost 12-2 to the Lancers on Saturday. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest loss the Vikings have suffered since May 18, 2024.
Jimmy Casey made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one stolen base, and one double. Another player making a difference was Zach Neeld, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with one stolen base, one double, and one RBI.
Meanwhile, it can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but St. Joseph's Prep had no problem doing just that on Wednesday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against the Lions, sneaking past 5-4. The game snapped a strange streak: the last four times these teams have met, it?s been the away team that?s taken home the W.
Eddie Dingle looked comfortable as he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He also tossed a walk, which is notable because St. Joseph's Prep is undefeated when he allows at most one walk, but 5-10 otherwise.
At the plate, St. Joseph's Prep's victory was truly a team effort as six different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Robby Grasso, who went 1-for-3 with one triple and one run.
The win got St. Joseph's Prep back to even at 10-10. As for Archbishop Wood, their defeat dropped their record down to 13-5.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Saturday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Archbishop Wood has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.3 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like St. Joseph's Prep struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.9 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Archbishop Wood came out on top in a nail-biter against St. Joseph's Prep in their previous matchup back in April, sneaking past 6-4. Do the Vikings have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Hawks turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
