Bishop Montgomery has won three straight games at home, while Animo Leadership has won three straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Saturday. The Knights will host the Aztec Eagles at 11:00 a.m. Bishop Montgomery's pitching crew has only allowed 3.9 runs per game this season, so Animo Leadership's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
On Thursday, Bishop Montgomery made easy work of Salesian and carried off a 10-3 win. The victory continues a trend for the Knights in their matchups with the Mustangs: they've now won four in a row.
Bishop Montgomery got a great performance from Kai Cadena as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit over five innings pitched. Cadena has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Harrison Howe was incredible, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases and three runs. That's the most runs he has posted since back in March. Sean Yanko was another key player, going 2-for-3 with two runs, one triple, and one RBI.
Bishop Montgomery was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .400. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .321 or higher in six consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Animo Leadership earned a 4-1 win over Ambassador on Wednesday.
The team relied heavily on Giovanni Ulloa, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.
Animo Leadership's victory ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 13-12. As for Bishop Montgomery, their win bumped their record up to 16-10.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Saturday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Bishop Montgomery has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Animo Leadership struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.7 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Bishop Montgomery beat Animo Leadership 4-0 when the teams last played back in February of 2019. Will the Knights repeat their success, or do the Aztec Eagles have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
