Baseball Game Preview: East Chicago Central Cardinals vs. Gary West Side Cougars

East Chicago Central has gone 8-2 against Gary West Side recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Tuesday. The Cardinals will welcome the Cougars at 7:00 p.m. East Chicago Central is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8 runs per game this season.

It was a proper cat-fight when East Chicago Central challenged Gary West Side last Monday. The Cardinals were the clear victors by a 17-7 margin over the Cougars. The Cardinals haven't had any issues with the Cougars recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive win against them.

Abran Gomez

Runs (Career)

04/28/25 vs Gary West Side	5
04/16/25 @ Bowman Academy	4
05/17/24 vs Thornton Fractional North	4
04/22/25 vs 21st Century Charter	3
04/08/25 vs 21st Century Charter	3

Abran Gomez and Jorge Sanchez made a big impact no matter where they played. On the mound, Gomez struck out ten batters over five innings while giving up just two earned (and five unearned) runs off five hits. Meanwhile, Sanchez tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because East Chicago Central is 2-1 when he allows at most three earned runs, but 3-5 otherwise. At the plate, Gomez went a perfect 4-for-4 with seven stolen bases, five runs, and two doubles, while Sanchez got on base in three of his five plate appearances with three runs, one stolen base, and one double. Those five runs gave Gomez a new career-high.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Isaiah Partida, who went 3-for-4 with four RBI, one run, and one double. Those four RBI gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Carlos Vasquez, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with three runs and one RBI.

East Chicago Central was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .467. They are a perfect 3-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.

The victory made it two in a row for Gary West Side and bumps their season record up to 2-6. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 15.5 runs over those games. As for East Chicago Central, their victory bumped their record up to 5-6.