Baseball Game Preview: Tri-Central Trojans vs. Maconaquah Braves

Tri-Central is 1-7 against Maconaquah since April of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Trojans are taking a road trip to square off against the Braves at 5:30 p.m. Tri-Central will be strutting in after a victory while Maconaquah will be coming in after a loss.

Tri-Central took a 12-run defeat the last time they faced off against Delphi Community, but this time they managed to keep it close and that made all the difference. The Trojans had just enough and edged out the Oracles 4-3.

Brody Arnold spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just two earned (and one unearned) runs on six hits.

On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Nate Cherry, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs and one stolen base. Jake Cherry also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen bases of the season.

Meanwhile, Maconaquah came up short against Manchester on Wednesday and fell 6-1. The matchup marked the Braves' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.

Maconaquah saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Bennett Isenburg, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with four stolen bases, one run, and one double. Isenburg is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged at least one in each of the last three games he's played.

Tri-Central's first win this season bumped their record up to 1-4. As for Maconaquah, their loss dropped their record down to 3-3.

Tri-Central skirted past Maconaquah 9-7 when the teams last played back in April of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Trojans since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.