Baseball Game Preview: West Central co-op [Winchester-Bluffs] Cougars vs. Routt Catholic Rockets

West Central co-op [Winchester-Bluffs] hasn't had much luck against Routt Catholic recently, but that could start to change on Saturday. The Cougars will challenge the Rockets at 11:00 a.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (West Central co-op [Winchester-Bluffs] 3.8, Routt Catholic 3.7) so any runs scored will be well earned.

West Central co-op [Winchester-Bluffs] took a 11-run defeat the last time they faced off against Illini Bluffs, but this time they managed to keep it close and that made all the difference. The Cougars skirted past the Tigers 2-1. The win was nothing new for the Cougars as they're now sitting on five straight.

Meanwhile, it can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Routt Catholic had no problem doing just that on Wednesday. They never let the Tornadoes get on the board and left with a 7-0 victory. The Rockets might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 15 games by six runs or more this season.

Not much got past Eli Olson, who gave up just a hit and racked up ten Ks to keep Abingdon/Avon off the board. Olson has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in five consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Jace Lautemann, who went 2-for-3 with one home run and two RBI.

Routt Catholic hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team has now struck out at least five batters in three consecutive contests.

Routt Catholic is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight matchups. That's provided a massive bump to their 22-12 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.5 runs on average over those games. As for West Central co-op [Winchester-Bluffs], their record now sits at 23-5.

West Central co-op [Winchester-Bluffs] might still be hurting after the 13-4 loss they got from Routt Catholic when the teams last played on May 12th. Can the Cougars avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.