Baseball Game Preview: Kearney Bearcats vs. Elkhorn South Storm

The Kearney Bearcats will challenge the Elkhorn South Storm at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Kearney is coming into the contest hot, having won their last seven games.

Kearney is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Nebraska's top teams: Grand Island, who was ranked 13th at the time (Kearney was ranked ninth). The Bearcats came out on top against the Islanders by a score of 7-4 on Saturday.

Derrick Nonhof looked comfortable as he pitched 3.2 innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one walk in five consecutive appearances.

At the plate, Gunner DeMilt and Tysen Cabela did most of the damage at the plate: DeMilt went 2-for-4 with two RBI and one double, while Cabela went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs. That's the most hits Cabela has posted over his last 15 games. Chase Bentz was another key player, going 1-for-2 with two runs and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Elkhorn South hadn't done well against Millard West recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Saturday. The Storm walked away with a 5-1 victory over the Wildcats. The game was the first time the Storm have beaten the Wildcats on their field since May 4, 2024.

Markus Gorup was excellent, going 2-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one double.

Kearney pushed their record up to 22-9 with the win, which was their sixth straight at home. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.5 runs on average over those games. As for Elkhorn South, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 16-10.

Kearney couldn't quite finish off Elkhorn South in their previous meeting back in May of 2022 and fell 10-8. Can the Bearcats avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.