Baseball Game Preview: Northwest Lions vs. Ladue Horton Watkins Rams

The Northwest Lions will face off against the Ladue Horton Watkins Rams at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Northwest has struggled recently with six losses in a row, while Ladue Horton Watkins will arrive with five straight victories.

It was a proper cat-fight when Northwest took on Oakville on Thursday. The Lions came up short against the Tigers, falling 7-1.

Northwest got a good showing from Gio Cignetti, who didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit over four innings pitched. Cignetti has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one hit in six consecutive appearances.

At the plate, Northwest saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Carter Hawkins, who went 1-for-3 with one run.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Ladue Horton Watkins). They won by a run and slipped past Affton 21-20.

Ladue Horton Watkins' win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 10-10. Those road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.3 runs over those games. As for Northwest, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-15.

Northwest suffered a grim 11-2 defeat to Ladue Horton Watkins in their previous meeting back in May of 2024. Can the Lions avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.