The Ennis Lions will take on the Midlothian Heritage Jaguars at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Ennis 3.1, Midlothian Heritage 2.8) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Ennis took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They skirted past Red Oak 6-4. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Lions have posted since March 6th.
Bryan Leija looked comfortable as he tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has become a key player for Ennis: the team is 5-1-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 7-8-1 otherwise.
Blaine Zhanel
| 04/11/25 vs Red Oak | 3 |
| 02/28/25 @ North Forney | 2 |
| 02/27/25 @ Grand Prairie | 2 |
| 03/28/25 vs Midlothian | 1 |
| 03/21/25 vs Crandall | 1 |
On the hitting side, Blaine Zhanel was incredible, going a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs, one triple, and two RBI. Those three hits gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Keno Castillo, who went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases and one RBI.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Midlothian Heritage). Their pitchers stepped up to hand Terrell a 17-0 shutout on Friday. The Jaguars might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won ten matches by six runs or more this season.
Gavin Railsback looked comfortable as he kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits over four innings pitched. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two hits in four consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Midlothian Heritage got a massive performance out of Cayden Campbell, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two stolen bases, four RBI, and one run. Another player making a difference was Carter Rutenbar, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 1-for-2.
Midlothian Heritage always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .629. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Ennis has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games. That's provided a nice bump to their 12-9-2 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Midlothian Heritage, the win (which was their fourth in a row) raised their record to 19-7.
Ennis took their victory against Midlothian Heritage in their previous matchup back in March of 2023 by a conclusive 10-0 score. Will the Lions repeat their success, or do the Jaguars have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
