The St. Xavier Tigers will square off against the St. Charles East Fighting Saints at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday. St. Xavier is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.5 runs per game this season.
St. Xavier is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Kentucky's top teams: Bowling Green, who was ranked eighth at the time (St. Xavier was ranked 14th). The Tigers sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 9-8 win over the Purples on Tuesday. The victory continues a trend for the Tigers in their matchups with the Purples: they've now won six in a row.
St. Xavier got a great performance from Ryan Holmes as he pitched 4.1 innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits. Holmes has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive appearances.
Brodie Benefield
| 04/01/25 @ Bowling Green | 4 |
| 03/17/25 vs DuPont Manual | 3 |
| 05/04/24 @ Apollo | 3 |
| 03/31/25 vs Shelby County | 2 |
| 03/29/25 vs Olentangy Liberty | 2 |
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Brodie Benefield, who scored four runs and stole a base while going 4-for-5. Those four hits gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Jaxon Coomer, who scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.
St. Xavier kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least 12 hits in three consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, St. Charles East came up short against Central Hardin on Tuesday and fell 6-3. The Fighting Saints have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
St. Charles East also got a good showing from Nick Santelli, who pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits.
On the hitting side, Andrew Zolna was cooking despite his team's loss, getting on base in all three of his plate appearances with one home run and two RBI. He also put up a run, which was his first of the season. Another player making a difference was Niko Vahmistrovs, who scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.
St. Xavier pushed their record up to 8-2 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. The road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 6.7 runs over those games. As for St. Charles East, they now have a losing record of 3-4.
St. Charles East's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: St. Xavier hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .317. It's a different story for St. Charles East, though, as they've only averaged .202. Will they be able to contain St. Xavier's hitters? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
