Baseball Game Preview: Thornton Fractional South Red Wolves vs. Lincoln-Way Central Knights

The Thornton Fractional South Red Wolves will face off against the Lincoln-Way Central Knights at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Thornton Fractional South will roll into the contest after a wild two-game stretch: they didn't score any runs on Thursday, then bounced right back against Rich Township on Friday. The Red Wolves blew past the Raptors 13-6. The Red Wolves haven't had any issues with the Raptors recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive victory against them.

Juan Lozano made a big impact no matter where he played. He pitched 2.1 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has become a key player for Thornton Fractional South: the team is 4-2 when he allows at most three hits, but 9-18-2 otherwise. Lozano was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two runs and one stolen base.

Abe Serna

Hits (Career)

05/23/25 vs Rich Township	5
05/12/25 @ Hillcrest	3
05/16/25 @ Lindblom	2
05/13/25 vs Hillcrest	2
05/08/25 vs Calumet Christian	2

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Abe Serna, who went a perfect 5-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI. Those five hits gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Chris Rodriguez, who got on base in three of his five plate appearances with four RBI, two runs, and one double.

Thornton Fractional South always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .667. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.

Meanwhile, Lincoln-Way Central is ranked highly in their home state and on Saturday they took on another highly ranked team in the form of Hanover Central. The Knights skirted past the Wildcats 5-3. The win was familiar territory for the Knights, who have now won four games in a row.

Lincoln-Way Central's victory bumped their record up to 19-10. As for Thornton Fractional South, their win bumped their record up to 13-20-2.