Paul Skenes, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, faced off against St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Nathan Church on April 30 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The two players previously shared a locker room at El Toro High School in Lake Forest, California, where Church was a junior and later a senior when Skenes joined as a freshman.
Their matchup drew attention because of their shared history as teammates before advancing to professional baseball. Skenes started the game with difficulty, giving up three runs on two home runs in the first inning. When Church came to bat against him for the first time in the second inning, Skenes struck him out with a changeup. In their next meeting during the fourth inning, Church made contact but popped up for an out along third base.
Although Church went hitless against Skenes, his team prevailed with a 10-5 win over Pittsburgh. This result left Skenes winless in seven career starts against St. Louis.
Reflecting on their high school days together, Skenes said to Dani Wexelman of SNY: “He was like the veteran presence on the team,” adding that Church helped guide younger players and set an example for them during his senior year. “We played together my sophomore year. Good player; still is.” He also recalled that Church hit a walk-off home run against La Mirada High School while current Pirates teammate Jared Jones was pitching.
Church was drafted by St. Louis in the eleventh round of the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft and entered Thursday’s game batting .238 with five home runs and thirteen runs batted in this season. Before Thursday’s start, Skenes had compiled a record of four wins and one loss with an earned run average of 2.48 across six starts.
Skenes described his former teammate positively: “Church was a good player and a good dude. He wasn’t like a jerk to all the underclassmen,” he joked about their high school years together before concluding: “It’s cool to see him now.”
