New Athens and Chester are an even 3-3 against one another since April of 2015, but likely not for long. The Yellow Jackets will be playing at home against the Yellowjackets at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty run totals in their previous games.
As a matter of fact, New Athens put up the most runs they have all season on Tuesday. They put the hurt on Dupo with a sharp 13-1 win. The victory was nothing new for the Yellow Jackets as they're now sitting on four straight.
Carson Lauer
| 04/22/25 vs Dupo | 9 |
| 04/15/25 vs Valmeyer | 5 |
| 03/26/25 @ Carlyle | 5 |
| 04/23/24 @ Steeleville | 5 |
| 04/08/25 @ Steeleville | 2 |
Carson Lauer made a big impact no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out nine batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit (and only one walk). Those nine strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also big at the plate, going 1-for-2 with two stolen bases and one run.
In other batting news, New Athens got a massive performance out of Brodie Sieber, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with one home run and three runs. That's the most runs Sieber has posted since back in March. Wil Mulholland was another key player, going 2-for-4 with two doubles, one stolen base, and one run.
New Athens was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .435. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, Chester can bid farewell to their three-game losing streak thanks to their game on Tuesday. They came out on top against Sparta by a score of 10-5.
Like New Athens, Chester also got a great game from a two-way player: Brenden Malley. He tossed 5.1 innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off three hits. Malley was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-4 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Ethan Colvis, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with four stolen bases, two runs, and one triple. He has become a key player for Chester: the team is 3-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 1-7 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Reagan Sims, who got on base in four of his five plate appearances with two runs and one RBI.
New Athens' win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-5. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Chester, their win was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-4 and their overall record up to 4-8.
New Athens couldn't quite get it done against Chester in their previous meeting back in April of 2023 as they fell 7-4. Can the Yellow Jackets avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
