The St. Mary's Knights will venture away from home to square off against the Coronado Dons at 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (St. Mary's has four straight victories, Coronado has nine straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
While St. Mary's didn't have the best season last year (they finished 5-17), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 7-6 win over Mountain View on Saturday.
Sebastian Morlaes and John Houle dominated on the mound. Morlaes pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits, while Houle tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Javier Romero, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-3. Evan Rios also deserves some recognition as he scored his first run of the season.
St. Mary's kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 14 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least nine hits every time they've taken the field this season.
Meanwhile, Coronado lost 15-4 to ALA - Anthem South on Saturday.
Alexander Bustamante was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Harven Osif, who scored a run while going 1-for-1.
St. Mary's victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 4-0. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.5 runs over those games. As for Coronado, their loss dropped their record down to 0-3.
Tuesday's contest will be a test for both teams' pitchers. St. Mary's hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .338. However, it's not like Coronado struggles in that department as they've averaged .333. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Everything went St. Mary's way against Coronado in their previous meeting back in March of 2022, as St. Mary's made off with an 18-1 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for St. Mary's since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
