The O'Dea Fighting Irish are taking a road trip to square off against the Eastside Catholic Crusaders at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. O'Dea's pitching crew has only allowed 3.4 runs per game this season, so Eastside Catholic's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
O'Dea is headed into the matchup having just posted their closest win since May 14, 2025 on Friday. They had just enough and edged out Seattle Academy 2-1.
Eastside Catholic hadn't beaten Ballard on the road since April 5, 2023 but that history sure didn't bother them on Friday. The Crusaders blew past the Beavers 8-2. The result was nothing new for the Crusaders, who have now won five games by six runs or more so far this season.
Eastside Catholic got a great performance from Tristan Weigum as he pitched six innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off four hits. Weigum is becoming a predictor of the Crusaders' success: when he allows at most one earned run the team is undefeated (and 3-8 when he doesn't).
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Kobe Reese, who went 1-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. Eastside Catholic is undefeated when Reese posts two or more runs, but 2-8 otherwise. Josh Connelly-Smith also deserves some recognition as he hit his first double of the season.
O'Dea has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests. That's provided a massive bump to their 7-7 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 6.2 runs over those games. As for Eastside Catholic, their record now sits at 6-8.
O'Dea came out on top in a nail-biter against Eastside Catholic when the teams last played back in May of 2025, sneaking past 4-3. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Fighting Irish since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
