(cover photo of Matteo DeBellis via Jeff Isaac)

Well, considering how small the 2A bracket is, this rematch of last year’s 1A championship wasn’t all that surprising.

Delco Christian comes into this game looking for revenge after losing 11-4 last year in the 1A championship, to guess who, Faith Christian.

Faith Christian’s most recent game was May 12 against Delco Christian, where the Lions won 9-5 to finish 9-0 in conference play in their final game of the regular season.

This season was unusual for the Knights. They finished under .500 for the first time since 2022, but still managed to boast an 8-4 conference record and make the 2A bracket.

Senior Reid Darnall led the offense in most major categories, posting a .441/.554/.610 triple slash, and for those who cant do math, thats a 1.164 OPS. They had three guys put an OPS over 1.000, with the last guy being senior Sam Dixon, as he posted a 1.075. The seniors are the leaders of the offense, and will likely be leaned on a lot to help with production.

The Knights had some solid pitching, having three guys post an ERA under 3.00. Senior Porter Roberts led the way, posting a 1.40 in ten innings, which was followed closely by senior Beau Lyren, who just finished up a 15 K performance to help the Knights advance to the district championship. Sophomore Matteo DeBellis was the last guy to post a sub-3.00 ERA, as he posted a 2.69. Beau Lyren led the team in innings, and served as the team’s ace, as he logged 28.1 innings on the season. He was followed by sophomore Josiah Lyren, who posted 27 innings with a 3.89 ERA.

We think there’s a good shot it’s Josiah on the mound today based on how the season has gone.

Now, don’t let the 10-11 record deceive you, this team stayed fighting and don’t count them out against this loaded Faith Christian team.

On the other side of the field is Faith Christian, who, I will not lie, is an absolute wagon. They followed up an undefeated 2024 with a 16-2 2025. They do everything good, no other way to put it. They have maybe the most insane run differential I’ve ever seen, as it sits at an absurd 206-27.

Not much to say about the offense other than it’s maybe one of the best in the state. Their 206 runs in 18 games is good for 11.4 runs per game. Coker College commit Reid Miller had a hilarious .603 average and 1.751 OPS.

Jagger Verbit (awesome name) hit .500 with a 1.200 OPS, while Chase Gieser (also Coker recruit) hit .481 with a 1.352 OPS

Their pitching was maybe even better. They didn’t have a single pitcher have an ERA above 2.00. TWO. It was led by senior ace Reid Miller, who posted a 0.35 ERA, which was 13th in the whole state. He also struck out 75 guys which was good for 3rd in District 1. His dominance would be followed by senior Chase Gieser. He posted a 1.35 and led the team in appearances. I could name every pitcher on the staff if I wanted to, but that’d take up a lot of time. So in short, its a really really damn good staff.

Now, while on paper, this game may seem like an easy win for Faith Christian, but Delco Christian always seems to make things interesting and stay in games they have no business being in. So this has the makings to be a really interesting game.

The game has been moved to Friday @ Villanova Ballpark at 1:00. It will be part of a doubleheader with the 4A title between Springfield Montco and Pope John Paul II.