The Paradise Honors Panthers will head out on the road to challenge the Salpointe Catholic Lancers at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Paradise Honors is strutting in with some hitting muscle, as they've averaged 8.5 runs per game this season.
Paradise Honors fought the good fight in their extra-innings match against Deer Valley last Wednesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Skyhawks by a score of 4-3. Paradise Honors' loss signaled the end of their three-game winning streak.
The match pitted two dominant pitchers against one another in Michael Nicolini Jr. and Tanner Theall. Theall had a great game and struck out eight batters over four innings while giving up just two earned runs off two hits. Meanwhile, Nicolini Jr. was balling out in the loss, striking out 15 batters over 6.1 innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits (and not a single walk).
Even though they lost, Paradise Honors didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with 17 strikeouts. That's the most strikeouts they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, in what's become a running theme this season, Salpointe Catholic gave their fans yet another huge victory on Wednesday. They put the hurt on Pueblo with a sharp 15-0 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Salpointe Catholic.
Shawn Barros made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit while striking out eight over five innings pitched. Barros has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in four consecutive pitching appearances. Barros was also big at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a home run and two runs.
In other batting news, Lucas Shannon was incredible, going 3-for-3 with a home run, two runs, and two RBI. Izaiah Moraga was another key contributor, going 1-for-3 with a home run and three RBI.
Paradise Honors now has a losing record at 5-6. As for Salpointe Catholic, their victory bumped their record up to 5-2-1.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Paradise Honors has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.5 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Salpointe Catholic struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.8 per game. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Paradise Honors couldn't quite finish off Salpointe Catholic in their previous matchup back in March of 2023 and fell 4-2. Can Paradise Honors avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
