John Marshall is 2-7 against St. Clairsville since April of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Monarchs will welcome the Red Devils at 5:00 p.m. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Having struggled with six defeats in a row, John Marshall turned things around against Fairland on Saturday. They skirted past the Dragons 9-8. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Monarchs have posted since March 25th.
Mason Markonich made a big impact no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run over six innings pitched. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (five). He was also big at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two runs, two RBI, and one double.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Jayden Astipalitis, who went 1-for-3 with three RBI, one stolen base, and one double. Another player making a difference was Cain Martin, who went 2-for-3 with two runs.
John Marshall was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .375. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, St. Clairsville waltzed into their matchup on Tuesday with nine straight wins... but they left with ten. They came within a single run of losing the streak, but they secured a 9-8 W against the Bobcats.
St. Clairsville's victory was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-1. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for John Marshall, their victory bumped their record up to 6-9.
John Marshall suffered a grim 9-3 defeat to St. Clairsville in their previous matchup back in April of 2024. Can the Monarchs avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
