Baseball Preview: Tippecanoe Valley Vikings vs. Rochester Zebras
Tippecanoe Valley has been on the road for four straight, but on Friday they'll finally head home. They will take on the Rochester Zebras at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Tippecanoe Valley is headed into the matchup fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. Everything went their way against Caston on Thursday as Tippecanoe Valley made off with a 12-1 victory. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest win of the season.
Cameron Manuel was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single hit, only one earned run while striking out seven over six innings pitched. Manuel has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in four consecutive pitching appearances. Manuel was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Braxton Alderfer, who went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Landon Durkes, who scored two runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Rochester had just enough and edged Maconaquah out 3-2 on Wednesday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Rochester.
Like Tippecanoe Valley, Rochester also got a great game from a two-way player: Carson Paulik. On the mound, he struck out 13 batters over seven innings while giving up just two earned runs off three hits (and only one walk). Paulik was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a stolen base and an RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Gavin Young, who went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases and an RBI. Brady Coleman was another key contributor, going 2-for-3 with two stolen bases.
Tippecanoe Valley's victory ended a seven-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 3-9. As for Rochester, they have been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine games, which provided a nice bump to their 10-5 record this season.
Tippecanoe Valley suffered a grim 13-3 defeat to Rochester in their previous meeting back in April of 2023. Will Tippecanoe Valley have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
