The Melbourne Central Catholic Hustlers will head out to take on the Harmony Longhorns at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Melbourne Central Catholic is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.3 runs per game this season.
The home team had won the previous six meetings between Melbourne Central Catholic and Bayside, and Melbourne Central Catholic kept the tradition alive. The Hustlers put the hurt on the Bears with a sharp 12-1 victory on Monday. The Hustlers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven matches by six runs or more this season.
The team relied heavily on Collin O'Connell, who went 1-for-3 with one home run and three RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Thomas Gonnella, who scored two runs while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.
Melbourne Central Catholic always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .581. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Bayside only posted an OBP of .273.
Meanwhile, Harmony won against St. Cloud on Friday with seven runs and they decided to stick to that run total again on Monday. The Longhorns beat Melbourne by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 7-6. The win was familiar territory for the Longhorns, who have now won five contests in a row.
Ismael Rivera looked comfortable as he pitched 3.2 innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. He has been consistent for a while: he hasn't given up more than two walks in 17 consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Nate O'Neill was incredible, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 3-for-3. That's the most hits he has posted since back in February. Westin Thompson was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 2-for-4.
Harmony's victory was their 11th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 18-6. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Melbourne Central Catholic, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five games. That's provided a massive bump to their 12-8 record this season.
Melbourne Central Catholic couldn't quite finish off Harmony in their previous matchup back in March of 2024 and fell 7-5. Can the Hustlers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
