HSBN Palm Beach Games of the Week for 2016

New name? New school colors? How about a big win against a neighboring school in the first week of the season? That's what Saint John Paul II Eagles will be looking to do as they face off against West Boca on Friday.

Of course, don't expect West Boca to help them out with that, especially after the Eagles beat them 9-4 last year. The Bulls, under second-year manager Nate Underwood will field a solid team with a lot of players coming back this year.

Saint John Paul II, meanwhile, will be working through the adversity of graduating 12 players. Nevertheless, count on the Eagles to come out fired up under their veteran manager Peter Graffeo.

Two longtime rivals who now share the same district go head to head Friday when American Heritage hosts Benjamin.

The Buccaneers fell just short against the Stallions last year, losing 7-6. This year, Benjamin, which moved up a class to 4A, is off to a 3-1 start after finishing third in the Santaluces Slam. The Buccaneers beat Trinity Christian 1-0, Palm Beach Central 2-1 and Jupiter 3-1 in the annual season-opening tournament.

The Stallions, who also are 3-1, won the Slam by beating Atlantic 7-0. They also knocked off John I. Leonard 8-2 and Jupiter 5-4.

Two teams who haven’t been in the spotlight much in recent years will get their time to shine under the lights this week as Olympic Heights hosts Boynton Beach in the HSBN Palm Beach Game of the Week.

These two 7A-14 programs hungry for wins as Olympic Heights is 1-6-1 and Boynton Beach 0-4. The Lions beat Santaluces 2-1 on Feb. 16, and they tied Monarch 5-5 to open the season Feb. 9.

Boynton Beach has won the past two meetings. The Tigers won 9-3 last year and 3-2 in 2014. Olympic Heights had the upper hand in 2013, coming away with 11-1 and 13-0 wins.

Friday would be a great time for these under-the-radar teams to showcase their skills and make a good showing for themselves.

When longtime district foes King’s Academy and Cardinal Newman meet, odds are you’re going to see a very competitive game.

The Lions will host the Crusaders on Monday in the HSBN Palm Beach Game of the Week, their second meeting this season. King’s won 7-3 on February 19.

King’s won their first meeting last year before Newman came back for a win the second time. In 2014, the teams split the regular-season meetings, each by a run, and Newman beat King’s 4-2 in the district semifinal.

As if King’s needed any more motivation, the Lions, after a 5-2 start, have lost their past three games and will be hungry for a win Monday. Zach Krance, Jake Gerardi and Dylan Costa are hitting .333.

At 4-7 and coming off a shutout loss to Saint John Paul II, the Crusaders are also hungry for victory. A 6-3 win over district foe American Heritage has the Crusaders believing they can win against anyone. Brett Steel is hitting .385 and Chris Cammarata .346. Shane Drohan has a 1.31 ERA and has struck out 23 in 10.2 innings.

One thing is for sure when Berean Christian and Boca Raton Christian take the field: You're going to see a pretty competitive game. Boca Raton Christian won 5-3 and 3-2 last year. The teams split the year before with Boca winning 4-3 before Berean came back to win 5-2 in the next meeting. Boca won all three of their matchups over the two years prior.

It should be more of the same Thursday when the Blazers host at 4 p.m. in the HSBN Palm Beach Game of the Week, their first of two meetings this year.

Berean has done well this season at 8-4, looking to improve over last year's 9-12 mark. A highlight win was against Lake Worth Christian, which the Bulldogs beat 4-2 on March 11th. The Bulldogs are on a two-game winning streak with a non-district matchup against Royal Palm Beach looming Tuesday. Ralph Perez, hitting .448 with 15 runs and 12 RBIs, leads the offense. The versatile DJ Lawler, who is hitting .424 with 13 runs and 16 RBIs. He is 4-0 with 36 strikeouts and a 0.35 ERA in 20 innings. Noah Adams (.378, 17 runs, 10 RBIs), Armani Zalez (.378, 18 runs, seven RBIs), Luke Yeargin (.348, five RBIs), Jordan McCullough (.324, nine runs, 10 RBIs) also have been key on offense.

Boca Raton Christian is off to a 9-6 start but is searching for consistency after a 3-3 run over its past six games. The Blazers have seven hitters over .400 and another two over .300. Michael Walsh leads the offense, hitting .516 with eight runs and 15 RBIs. Other top hitters are Michael Pratt (.442, 14 runs, 15 RBIs), Zach Gray (.439, 16 runs, 10 RBIs), Zach Hofmann (.431, 15 runs, eight RBIs), Gino Bellantoni (.423, eight runs, eight RBIs), Austin Smith (.442, 16 runs, 12 RBIs) and Anthony Rios (.414, eight runs, nine RBIs). Logan Rataiczak is batting .364 with 13 runs and nine RBIs, and Zack Husey is hitting .361 with 10 runs and 14 RBIs.Rataiczak has struck out 47 in 30 innings. Hoffman has fanned 30 in 20 innings, and Pratt has a 0.93 ERA with 29 strikeouts in 15 innings.