The Harvest Christian Academy Lions will face off against the Bishop McNamara Fightin' Irish at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Harvest Christian Academy comes in on three and Bishop McNamara on nine.
On Friday, Harvest Christian Academy was able to grind out a solid victory over St. Edward, taking the game 5-2.
The team relied heavily on Jameson Rapinchuk, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI. Cade Adrian also deserves some recognition as he got his first hit of the season.
Meanwhile, Bishop McNamara got the win against Newman Central Catholic on Saturday by a conclusive 18-2. Considering the Fightin' Irish have won nine matches by more than five runs this season, Saturday's blowout was nothing new.
Preston Payne made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing four innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off three hits. Payne was also solid in the batter's box, earning two RBI, one run, and one stolen base.
In other batting news, Taylor Fuerst was incredible, going 2-for-3 with three runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. Those three runs gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Jacob Lotz, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs, one double, and one RBI.
Bishop McNamara was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .529. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Newman Central Catholic only posted a batting average of .188.
Bishop McNamara's win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 20-6. Those home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.8 runs over those games. As for Harvest Christian Academy, their win bumped their record up to 14-9.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Harvest Christian Academy has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.1 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Bishop McNamara struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.2 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.
