Baseball Recap: St. John Paul II Finds Home Field Redemption Against Rickards

Panthers

Margin (Wins)

02/10/25 @ Vernon	15
03/07/25 vs Rickards	12
02/18/25 @ Rickards	12
03/03/25 vs Madison County	8

There's no place like home for St. John Paul II, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Wednesday. They never let the Rickards Raiders get on the board and left with a 12-0 win on Friday. Considering the Panthers have won four contests by more than seven runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.

Wyatt Cantella made a splash no matter where he played. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit over four innings pitched. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two hits in three consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-4 with three RBI and one triple. That triple marked the first that he hit this season.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Mason Avant, who scored two runs and stole Two bases. while going 2-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Jayse Doss, who scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances.

St. John Paul II always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .594. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Rickards only posted an OBP of .118.

St. John Paul II's victory was their fourth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 7-2. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.8 runs on average over those games. As for Rickards, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-6.

Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. St. John Paul II will square off against Rocky Bayou Christian at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. St. John Paul II's pitching crew has only allowed 1.9 runs per game this season, so Rocky Bayou Christian's hitters will have their work cut out for them. As for Rickards, they will challenge Wakulla Christian School at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Rickards has given up an average of 7.2 runs per game this season, so hopefully the team got some pitching drills in this week.