The St. Xavier Bombers (17-4, 5-4 in the Greater Catholic League) head into this weekend on a red-hot seven-game win streak, which began with dominant victories in Toledo to bring the Jesuit Cup back to North Bend. The team has dominated opponents during this span, outscoring them 78-13. The Bombers look to keep the bats hot as they face the Northmont Thunderbolts (15-8, 9-4 Greater Western Ohio Conference) and the Edgewood Cougars (17-7, 7-3 Southwestern Buckeye League).

The Bombers will first host the Thunderbolts at Gary '73 & Dina Gruber Family Ballpark on Friday, where they will face a high-scoring, efficient Northmont offense. The Thunderbolts head into the X on fire, having won six of their last seven games with a +39 run differential and three consecutive shutouts from May 1–May 8 (5-0 vs. Miamisburg, 4-0 vs. Fairmont, and 4-0 vs. Wayne). This week alone, the team has been scorching hot, scoring 10+ runs in their last three games—including a back-and-forth 12-11 loss to Tippecanoe, where a six-run first inning wasn't enough to stop the Red Devils' late rally of 10 unanswered runs in the 5th through 7th innings.

Leading the scorching Thunderbolts offense are seniors Drake Sauber and Brady Whitaker. Sauber is a pitcher's nightmare both at the plate and on the base paths. This season, Sauber sits in the top five of the GWOC in multiple categories: second in batting average (.463) and RBIs (25), third in hits (31) and runs (30), tied for fifth with two home runs, and sixth in stolen bases with 16. Whitaker has truly come into his own to complement Sauber. After hitting just .300 a season ago, he has raised his batting average to .386 while driving in the fifth-most runs in the GWOC (22) and hitting the fourth-most doubles (8). Whitaker serves as the perfect spark plug for the Thunderbolt offense, currently tied for the second-most hits on the team.

Looking at the mound, the Thunderbolts rely on a trio of dominant young pitchers. Leading this "three-headed monster" is sophomore Carson Fister. In 13 innings this season, he holds a 2-1 record with one save, boasting the fourth-lowest ERA (1.08) and third-lowest WHIP (0.77) while striking out 20. Not far behind him is junior Jayden Snyder, who carries a 1.826 ERA, a 1.304 WHIP, and 16 strikeouts over 15.1 innings with a 1-1 record. Rounding out the group is sophomore Troy Holthaus, one of two pitchers on the team with a shutout; he currently holds a 1-0 record with 12 strikeouts, a 2.625 ERA, and a 1.250 WHIP.

On Saturday, the Bombers will travel to Great American Ball Park to face the Edgewood Cougars, who currently ride a five-game winning streak where they have outscored opponents 37-13. In their last match up, the Cougars defeated Dayton Carroll 6-4, scoring five runs in the bottom of the fifth. The Cougars' offense is led by junior Chase Roesch. Roesch does it all for the Cougars, slashing a .446 batting average while driving home 27 runs to go with 28 stolen bases.

On the rubber, Edgewood currently sits at a 2.81 ERA with a SWBL-leading 204 strikeouts and the second-most saves (4). Leading the charge is senior righty Carson Downie. Downie has been fantastic this season, holding a 5-2 record with one save, a conference-leading 82 strikeouts, and the third-lowest ERA at .808. As a team, the Cougars have an astonishing .347 batting average, including four players hitting over .350 with at least 55 at-bats. They aren't afraid of pushing it on the base paths either, as they have 129 stolen bases with six players recording 10+ steals.

The Bombers look to limit these dominant offenses as they rely on senior Jack Ryan, junior Logan Von Hoelle, and senior Dillon Brus to keep up with the Cougars and Thunderbolts. Ryan and Brus dominated in the Bombers' last game vs. Harrison, combining for four hits, three runs, and a stolen base. Brus and Von Hoelle will look to push the tempo on the base paths; Brus leads the team with 28 swiped bases and Von Hoelle sits third on the team with eight. Additionally, Von Hoelle, Brus, and Ryan look to show off their power, as the trio has combined for the team's six round-trippers (Ryan 3, Brus 2, and Von Hoelle 1).