The Northland Christian Cougars will head out on the road to face off against the Tomball Kings Homeschool at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Northland Christian is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They blew past Rosehill Christian 11-1 on Tuesday. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest win of the season.
JT Turner
JT Turner was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out 13 batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. He has become a key player for Northland Christian: the team is 2-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 1-6-1 otherwise. Turner was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. What's more, he posted two RBI, the most he's had since back in May of 2024.
In other batting news, Sam Stevenson was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing a base while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in hits (two). Cy Taylor also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.
Northland Christian always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .568. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Rosehill Christian only posted an OBP of .318.
Meanwhile, Tomball Kings entered their tilt with First Baptist Christian on Tuesday with two consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with three. They came within a single run of losing the streak, but they secured a 1-0 W against the Warriors.
The result came thanks to Carson Riippa's shutout, as he gave up just a hit and racked up six Ks. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances.
Tomball Kings pushed their record up to 18-14-1 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.0 runs over those games. As for Northland Christian, they picked up their first road victory, bumping their record up to 3-7-1.
Northland Christian came up short against Tomball Kings when the teams last played on Saturday, falling 6-3. Can the Cougars avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
