The St. Mary's Rams will square off against the Cardinal Newman Cardinals at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. St. Mary's is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last 11 games.
Last Friday, St. Mary's made easy work of Kimball and carried off a 13-6 win. Considering the Rams have won eight games by more than six runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Dominic Franco looked comfortable as he tossed 1.2 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two hits any time he's pitched this season.
vs
| 04/11/25 - Away | 3 |
| 04/09/25 - Home | 3 |
| 04/07/25 - Away | 4 |
At the plate, Dax Hardcastle was incredible, going 2-for-5 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. He has been hot recently, having posted three or more RBI the last three times he's played. Nolan Ramage was another key player, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 2-for-3.
St. Mary's kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 17 hits. That's the most hits they've posted since back in May of 2024.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Cardinal Newman, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Wednesday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Ukiah a 1-0 shutout on Friday. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last seven times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.
Not much got past Josh Jannicelli, who gave up just two hits and racked up nine Ks to keep Ukiah off the board.
On the hitting side, Cardinal Newman saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jacob Wood, who went 1-for-3 with one double and one RBI.
St. Mary's victory was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 13-4. Those road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.4 runs over those games. As for Cardinal Newman, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests. That's provided a massive bump to their 8-5 record this season.
Cardinal Newman's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: St. Mary's hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .324. It's a different story for Cardinal Newman, though, as they've only averaged .254. Will they be able to contain St. Mary's hitters?
St. Mary's couldn't quite finish off Cardinal Newman in their previous meeting back in March of 2024 and fell 2-0. Can the Rams avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
