St. John Paul II Catholic is 0-8 against Kingman Academy since March of 2021 but things could change on Wednesday. A feisty cat fight will be fought as St. John Paul II Catholic Lions challenge Kingman Academy Tigers at 3:45 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Kingman Academy will be up against a hot St. John Paul II Catholic team: the squad just extended their winning streak to four. St. John Paul II Catholic's pitchers stepped up to hand Miami a 10-0 shutout on Monday. The result was nothing new for the Lions, who have now won three matches by six runs or more so far this season.
Carlos Pedroza made a splash while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching two innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in six consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing two bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Francisco Vasquez
| 03/24/25 vs Miami | 2 |
| 03/21/25 @ Mohave Accelerated | 1 |
| 03/18/25 @ San Tan Charter | 1 |
| 03/03/25 @ Bourgade Catholic | 1 |
| 02/27/25 vs Anthem Prep | 1 |
In other batting news, Francisco Vasquez was a standout: he scored two runs and stole two bases while going 1-for-2. Those two runs gave him a new career-high. Adrian Zaragoza was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-3.
St. John Paul II Catholic always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .516. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Miami only posted an OBP of .238.
Meanwhile, Kingman Academy fought the good fight in their extra-innings game against Wickenburg on Monday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Wranglers by a score of 13-11. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest loss the Tigers have suffered since February 27th.
Like St. John Paul II Catholic, Kingman Academy also got a great game from a two-way player: Dustin Sealy. On the mound, he struck out nine batters over 5.1 innings while giving up five earned runs off six hits. Sealy was even better at the plate, going 1-for-4 with one home run and four RBI. That home run marked the first that he launched this season.
In other batting news, Rilee Otto and Cormac Cone did some serious damage despite the final result: Otto scored two runs while getting on base in four of his six plate appearances, while Cone scored two runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-4. Cone is becoming a predictor of Kingman Academy's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 2-1 (and 3-5-1 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Aiden Wildebaur, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4.
St. John Paul II Catholic's victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 6-2. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Kingman Academy, their defeat ended a nine-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 5-6-1.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Wednesday as neither team is afraid to steal. St. John Paul II Catholic has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 4.9 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Kingman Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 4.8 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.
St. John Paul II Catholic couldn't quite get it done against Kingman Academy in their previous meeting back in April of 2024 as they fell 13-10. Can St. John Paul II Catholic avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
