The St. Xavier Tigers will head out on the road to challenge the Center Grove Trojans at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: St. Xavier has struggled recently with three losses in a row, while Center Grove will arrive with three straight wins.
St. Xavier is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Kentucky's top teams: Taylor County, who was ranked seventh in their home state at the time (St. Xavier was ranked 18th). St. Xavier took a 9-5 hit to the loss column at the hands of Taylor County on Thursday.
Ian Milliner was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he struck out six batters over 5.1 innings while giving up just two earned runs off six hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't pitched less than five innings in three consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, St. Xavier saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Brodie Benefield, who went 2-for-4 with a home run, a triple, and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Jaxon Coomer, who scored a run while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Center Grove can now show off six landslide victories after their most recent contest on Tuesday. They blew past New Albany 13-2.
Kobe Cherry tossed a big game, striking out eight batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off three hits.
On the hitting side, Gannon Grant was a standout: he went 2-for-4 with two runs, a triple, and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Cal Schembra, who went 1-for-3 with a home run and four RBI.
St. Xavier's defeat dropped their record down to 12-12. As for Center Grove, their victory bumped their record up to 15-1.
St. Xavier couldn't quite finish off Center Grove when the teams last played back in April of 2023 and fell 6-4. Thankfully for St. Xavier, Evan Zapp (who went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
