The Xaverian Brothers Hawks will head out to square off against the Hopkinton Hillers at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Xaverian Brothers is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Massachusetts' top teams: St. John's, who was ranked eighth at the time (Xaverian Brothers was ranked 17th). The Hawks won by a run and slipped past the Pioneers 2-1. The two-run effort marked the Hawks' lowest-scoring match of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.
Xaverian Brothers got a great performance from Paul McCarthy as he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out seven over five innings pitched. McCarthy has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive appearances.
Nolan Rappoli
| 04/16/25 @ St. John's | 3 |
| 04/03/25 vs Norwood | 2 |
| 06/01/24 vs Framingham | 2 |
| 05/22/24 @ Plymouth North | 2 |
| 04/14/25 vs St. John's Prep | 1 |
At the plate, Xaverian Brothers' win was truly a team effort as four different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Nolan Rappoli, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one stolen base. Those three hits gave Rappoli a new career-high.
Meanwhile, it may have taken eight innings to finish the job, but Hopkinton ultimately got the result they hoped for on Wednesday. They had just enough and edged out Norton 7-6. The Hillers haven't had any issues with the Lancers recently, as the game was their eighth consecutive victory against them.
Travis Rych and Dylan Ruff did most of the damage at the plate: Rych scored two runs and stole two bases while going 1-for-3, while Ruff went 2-for-4 with one triple, one run, and one double. That triple marked the first that Ruff hit this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Nick Pedroli, who scored a run while going 2-for-4.
Hopkinton kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their hit total in three consecutive games.
The win (which was Xaverian Brothers' fourth in a row) raised their record to 6-1. They've had to fight for that success though, as they only beat their opponents by an average of 2.75 runs across that stretch. As for Hopkinton, their record is now 5-2.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Xaverian Brothers has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.1 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Hopkinton struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.7 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Xaverian Brothers was able to grind out a solid victory over Hopkinton when the teams last played back in April of 2024, winning 4-1. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Hawks since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
