The Benton Central Bison will venture away from home to challenge the Logansport Berries at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Benton Central will be strutting in after a victory while Logansport will be coming in after a loss.
Benton Central is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. Everything went their way against North Newton on Thursday as they made off with a 9-3 win. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest victory of the season.
Nolan Winkler was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He tossed 2.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Winkler was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with one double and one RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Kaydric Tyson, who went 3-for-4 with two runs and two doubles. Those two doubles gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Tanner Pitstick, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one double and one RBI.
Benton Central was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .467. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.
Peru hit Logansport with a four-run fifth inning on Friday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Berries lost 11-1 to the Tigers. Berries fans who chose to attend the game sure picked the wrong one: it was the first time the team's lost against the Tigers since on Friday.
Logansport saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Carson Dubes, who went 1-for-3 with one run and one double. Deagan Kitchel also deserves some recognition as he hit his first triple of the season.
Logansport has been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four games. That's put a noticeable dent in their 6-5 record this season. As for Benton Central, their win ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 3-7.
Logansport's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Saturday. Benton Central has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.9 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Logansport, though, as they've been averaging only 3.4 strikeouts. Will Benton Central keep running through batters, or will the Berries buck the trend?
Benton Central couldn't quite finish off Logansport in their previous matchup back in April of 2024 and fell 6-4. Can the Bison avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
