The Brother Rice Crusaders will face off against the Evergreen Park Mustangs at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Brother Rice is coming into the contest hot, having won their last 16 games.
Brother Rice is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another highly-ranked state team: Andrean, who was ranked first in their home state at the time (Brother Rice was ranked first). The Crusaders came out on top in a nail-biter against the Fighting 59ers on Thursday, sneaking past 5-3. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last four times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.
Brother Rice got a great performance from Brayden McKendrick as he pitched 6.2 innings while giving up three earned runs off five hits.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Brady Cunningham, who went 2-for-3 with one triple, one run, and one RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Anthony Cartolano, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI.
Meanwhile, Evergreen Park fell victim to Oak Forest and their airtight pitching crew on Thursday. They came up short against the Bengals, falling 11-0. Having soared to a lofty 19 runs in the game before, the Mustangs' shutout was a dramatic turnaround.
Evergreen Park saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jack Rourke, who went 1-for-2 with one double.
Brother Rice's win was their 11th straight at home, which pushed their record up to 17-1. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.1 runs on average over those games. As for Evergreen Park, their loss dropped their record down to 15-5.
Friday's match will be a test for both teams' pitchers. Brother Rice hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .371. However, it's not like Evergreen Park struggles in that department as they've averaged .365. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Brother Rice beat Evergreen Park 5-2 in their previous meeting back in May of 2024. Will the Crusaders repeat their success, or do the Mustangs have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
