The Piper Bengals will challenge the Monarch Knights at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. Piper has now lost seven straight, leaving the team hunting for their first win since March 19.
Piper's usually-dominant pitching crew will be looking to make up for Friday's struggle, when Archbishop McCarthy hitters got past them. The Bengals lost 10-3 to the Mavericks on Friday.
Piper saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Michael Kanarek, who scored a run while going 2-for-3. Kanarek also put up a double, which was his first of the season.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Monarch). They never let Blanche Ely get on the board and left with a 19-0 win on Thursday. The Knights haven't had any issues with the Tigers recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive victory against them.
Kyle Jensen made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out six batters over 2.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (and only one walk). Those six strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.
In other batting news, Monarch got a massive performance out of Robert Brown, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two triples, three runs, and four RBI. Those two hits gave Brown a new career-high. Van Maxwell was another key player, going a perfect 2-for-2 with three runs, four RBI, and two doubles.
Monarch always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .679. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Piper's defeat dropped their record down to 10-9-1. As for Monarch, their win bumped their record up to 7-16.
Monarch's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Piper hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .321. It's a different story for Monarch, though, as they've only averaged .234. Will they be able to contain Piper's hitters?
Piper was able to grind out a solid victory over Monarch in their previous matchup back in March, winning 10-5. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Bengals since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
