Baseball Recap: Sterling Comes Up Short

Sterling extended their losing streak to three on Wednesday, dropping their season record down to 7-13 in the process. They were a single run away from ending the streak, but they lost a 10-9 heartbreaker at the hands of the East Moline United Panthers. Unfortunately, that's the second time they've come up short against the Panthers this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 2-0 on Monday.

Cale Nettleton was cooking despite his team's loss, getting on base in all five of his plate appearances with three RBI and one run. Braden Birdsley was another key player, getting on base in four of his five plate appearances with two runs and one stolen base.

As for East Moline United, they pushed their record up to 14-7 with the victory, which was their seventh straight on the road. Ten seems to be a good number for they as the squad scooped up a win with the same number of runs in their previous game.

On East Moline United's side, Issac Roman looked comfortable as he pitched 2.2 innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. Roman has been consistent for a while: he hasn't given up more than one walk in 11 consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Landon Skiles, who went 3-for-4 with one home run, four RBI, and two runs. Those four RBI gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Kellan Kennedy, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with four RBI and two doubles.

Looking ahead, Sterling will be playing at home against Rochelle at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. As for East Moline United, they will face off against Providence Catholic at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday.