The St. Paul Swordsmen are taking a road trip to take on the Paraclete Spirits at 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday. St. Paul's pitching crew has only allowed 2.4 runs per game this season, so Paraclete's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
St. Paul will roll into the matchup after a wild two-game stretch: they didn't score any runs last Friday, then bounced right back against South East on Saturday. The Swordsmen blew past the Jaguars 13-1. Considering the Swordsmen's hitters had been struggling lately, the high-scoring outing was a much-needed turnaround.
Taylor Sundstrom looked comfortable as he tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two hits any time he's pitched this season.
Richie Avina
| 04/05/25 @ South East | 4 |
| 03/21/25 vs La Salle | 2 |
| 03/08/25 vs Oxford Academy | 1 |
| 03/01/25 @ Norwalk | 1 |
| 02/28/25 vs La Salle | 1 |
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Richie Avina, who went 2-for-4 with four RBI, two runs, and one triple. Those four RBI gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Logan Noh, who went 1-for-2 with one home run and three RBI.
Royal typically has all the answers at home, but on Saturday Paraclete proved too difficult a challenge. They walked away with a 5-1 victory over the Highlanders. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Spirits.
Paraclete also got a great performance from Cole Mercier as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits over five innings pitched.
On the hitting side, Paraclete's win was truly a team effort as six different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Noah Schneir, who scored a run while going 2-for-4.
St. Paul is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 11-5 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Paraclete, their record is now 6-10.
St. Paul beat Paraclete 5-2 in their previous matchup back in March. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Swordsmen since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
