The St. Charles East Fighting Saints will head out on the road to square off against the St. Xavier Tigers at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, St. Charles East came up short against Central Hardin and fell 6-3. The Fighting Saints have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
St. Charles East got a good showing from Nick Santelli, who pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Santelli has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one hit any time he's pitched this season.
At the plate, 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.
Meanwhile, it may have taken eight innings to finish the job, but St. Xavier ultimately got the result they hoped for on Tuesday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 9-8 victory over Bowling Green. The win was familiar territory for the Tigers, who have now won three matches in a row.
Ryan Holmes tossed a big game, pitching 4.1 innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits.
On the hitting side, 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. Jaxon Coomer was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing 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 games.
St. Xavier's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 8-2. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.7 runs on average over those games. As for St. Charles East, they now have a losing record of 3-4.
