Baseball Preview: North Ridgeville Rangers vs. Normandy Invaders
The North Ridgeville Rangers will be playing at home against the Normandy Invaders at 4:45 p.m. on Friday. The pair have allowed few runs on average, (North Ridgeville: 3.2, Normandy: 3.6) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Last Tuesday, North Ridgeville beat Avon Lake 6-3. The victory made it back-to-back wins for North Ridgeville.
Gannon Padgett made a big impact no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing five innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off eight hits. Padgett was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with a stolen base and two RBI.
In other batting news, Enmanual Ramos was excellent, scoring a run while going 2-for-4. Andrew Flesher was another key contributor, scoring two runs while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances.
Meanwhile, it was a hard-fought game, but Normandy had to settle for a 4-3 defeat against St. Edward on Wednesday. That's two games in a row now that Normandy has lost by just one run.
Normandy saw seven different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was LUCAS STEELE, who went 1-for-3 with two RBI and a double.
North Ridgeville's victory bumped their record up to 14-5. As for Normandy, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost seven of their last eight contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 9-11 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. North Ridgeville has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.4 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Normandy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.8. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
North Ridgeville skirted past Normandy 3-2 when the teams last played back in April of 2022. Will North Ridgeville repeat their success, or does Normandy have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
