Cathedral and New Palestine are an even 5-5 against one another since April of 2017, but likely not for long. The Cathedral Fighting Irish are on the road again on Saturday to play the New Palestine Dragons at 3:00 p.m. Cathedral will be hoping to continue their four-game streak of scoring more runs each game than the last.
Cathedral is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Monday. They came out on top against Lawrence North by a score of 11-8. Cathedral's win was all the more impressive since Lawrence North was averaging only 3.16 runs allowed on the season.
Jackson Reeves looked comfortable as he tossed four innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Zander Carnahan was incredible, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 4-for-5. Chase Nickols was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 4-for-5.
Meanwhile, New Palestine can now show off 16 landslide victories after their most recent matchup on Monday. They put the hurt on Greenfield-Central with a sharp 6-0 victory. The win was familiar territory for New Palestine who now have seven in a row.
The result came thanks to Jacob Morris's shutout, as he gave up just two hits.
On the hitting side, New Palestine let Wyatt Matheis and Ben Hirschy loose on the outfield. Matheis scored a run while going 1-for-3, while Hirschy went 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Gavin Neal, who went 2-for-2 with a stolen base and an RBI.
Cathedral is on a roll lately: they've won 11 of their last 14 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 16-11 record this season. As for New Palestine, their victory bumped their record up to 24-5.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Saturday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Cathedral has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like New Palestine struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.3. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Cathedral couldn't quite finish off New Palestine in their previous meeting back in June of 2023 and fell 4-2. Can Cathedral avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
