The Wheeling Park Patriots are taking a road trip to challenge the John Marshall Monarchs at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. The last five games Wheeling Park has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.
Wheeling Park is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of West Virginia's top teams: Morgantown, who was ranked eighth at the time (Wheeling Park was ranked ninth). The Patriots fell just short of the Mohigans by a score of 4-2 on Thursday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest defeat the Patriots have suffered against the Mohigans since April 1, 2023.
John Marshall not only won on Friday, but they posted their biggest win since April 10, 2024 (when they won 12-2). They never let East Fairmont get on the board and left with a 10-0 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Monarchs.
Hayden Hughes made a big impact no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out six over five innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive appearances. He was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with four RBI, two runs, and one double. He is becoming a predictor of John Marshall's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 4-1 (and 4-10 when he doesn't).
In other batting news, Jayden Astipalitis was excellent, going 2-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI. That's the most runs he has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Cain Martin, who went 2-for-4 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.
John Marshall's record is now 8-11. As for Wheeling Park, their loss dropped their record down to 15-8.
Everything went Wheeling Park's way against John Marshall in their previous meeting on April 9th, as Wheeling Park made off with a 13-3 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Patriots since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
