Baseball Game Preview: Manteno Panthers vs. Iroquois West Raiders

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Previous 4 Games

04/25/24 - Home	11-1 W
03/30/23 - Home	7-3 W
03/14/22 - Home	5-2 W
04/11/15 - Home	16-1 W

Manteno is a perfect 4-0 against Iroquois West since April of 2015 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Thursday. The Panthers will square off against the Raiders at 4:30 p.m. Iroquois West took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Manteno, who comes in off a win.

Manteno is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. Everything went their way against Clifton Central on Wednesday as they made off with an 18-3 victory. Considering the Panthers have won six matches by more than six runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.

Tyler Buehler was a standout: he scored a run and stole two bases while going 4-for-4. What's more, he posted three RBI, the most he's had over his last 11 games. Maddoz Toepper was another key player, scoring four runs while going 4-for-4.

Manteno always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .615. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.

The home team had won the previous three meetings between Iroquois West and Gardner-South Wilmington, and Gardner-South Wilmington kept the tradition alive. The Raiders took an 8-5 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Panthers on Wednesday.

Iroquois West saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Mario Andrade, who scored a run while going 2-for-4.

The win made it two in a row for Manteno and bumps their season record up to 10-4. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.5 runs over those games. As for Iroquois West, they dropped their record down to 6-6 with the defeat, which was their third straight on the road.

Manteno took their win against Iroquois West in their previous matchup back in April of 2024 by a conclusive 11-1 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Panthers since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.