Baseball Preview: Breese Central Cougars vs. East Alton-Wood River Oilers
Breese Central is 10-0 against East Alton-Wood River since March of 2016, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Breese Central Cougars will look to defend their home field against the East Alton-Wood River Oilers at 4:30 p.m. The timing is sure in Breese Central's favor as the team sits on three straight wins at home while East Alton-Wood River has been banged up by five consecutive losses on the road.
Breese Central was not the first on the board last Tuesday, but they got there more often. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 2-1 victory over Freeburg.
Easton Becker tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run over six innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Breese Central saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Benny Lehman, who went 2-for-4 with a stolen base.
Meanwhile, East Alton-Wood River scored the most runs they've had all season to find success on Wednesday. They put the hurt on Carlinville with a sharp 14-4 win. With that victory, East Alton-Wood River brought their scoring average up to 6.2 runs per game.
East Alton-Wood River let Dillon Gerner and Tim Melton loose on the outfield. Gerner scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances, while Melton scored three runs while going 3-for-4. The team also got some help courtesy of Devon Barboza, who scored two runs while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.
Breese Central has been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 10-5 record this season. As for East Alton-Wood River, their win bumped their record up to 4-8-1.
Breese Central skirted past East Alton-Wood River 3-1 when the teams last played back in May of 2023. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was East Alton-Wood River's Tyler Robinson, who tossed six innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off seven hits (he also only allowed one walk). Now that he won't be playing on Thursday, will it be that much easier for Breese Central to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
