The Mississinewa Indians will face off against the Huntington North Vikings at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Mississinewa took a eight-run defeat the last time they faced off against Northwestern, but this time they managed to keep it close and that made all the difference. The Indians never let the Tigers get on the board and left with a 2-0 win on Saturday. The game was the first time the Indians have beaten the Tigers on their field since April 13, 2019.
Kenny Ayala
| 04/14/25 vs Southern Wells | 1 |
| 04/15/25 vs Norwell | 2 |
| 04/08/25 vs Kokomo | 4 |
| 04/19/25 @ Northwestern | 8 |
Northwestern's batters probably weren't too happy with Kenny Ayala, who pitched a no hitter and racked up eight Ks (he gave up two walks). Those eight strikeouts set a new season-high mark for Ayala.
On the hitting side, Mississinewa saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Lio Matamoros, who went 2-for-4 with one RBI.
Meanwhile, Huntington North had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 3 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Monday. They were the clear victors by a 12-3 margin over the Apaches. With that victory, the Vikings brought their scoring average up to 6.4 runs per game.
Eli Pohler looked comfortable as he pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits.
At the plate, Huntington North let Cruz Kindler and Brodee Swaidner run wild. Kindler went a perfect 4-for-4 with two stolen bases, two RBI, and one run, while Swaidner got on base in four of his five plate appearances with four RBI, one stolen base, and one run. That's the most RBI Kindler has posted since back in April of 2024. Another player making a difference was Brady Harris, who went 1-for-4 with two runs, two RBI, and one double.
Huntington North always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .524. They are a perfect 3-0 when they post an OBP of .513 or better.
Mississinewa is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games. That's provided a nice bump to their 5-3 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 6.8 runs over those games. As for Huntington North, their victory bumped their record up to 6-4.
Mississinewa was able to grind out a solid win over Huntington North when the teams last played back in April of 2024, winning 8-4. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Indians since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
