Baseball Recap: Southern Takes a Loss

Southern had lost 11 straight on the road dating back to last season, but on Monday they dropped their record down to 2-13 to make it 12. They lost 12-2 to the East Palestine Bulldogs. If the Indians were looking for revenge after losing 18-5 to the Bulldogs when the teams met back in May of 2024, then they'll just have to keep looking.

Southern saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Braden Rhodes, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base and one run.

As for East Palestine, the victory (which was their sixth in a row) raised their record to 15-7. Considering they have won ten games by more than five runs this season, Monday's blowout was nothing new.

On East Palestine's side, they got a great performance from Blake Noel as he struck out six batters over five innings while giving up just two earned runs off four hits. Noel has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive appearances.

At the plate, Cale Moraski and Phoenix Marvin did most of the damage at the plate: Moraski went 3-for-4 with two stolen bases, three runs, and two RBI, while Marvin got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs, one triple, and two RBI. That's the most runs Moraski has posted since back in April. Kealin Simon was another key player, going 2-for-4 with three runs.

While Southern had to take the loss, they won't have to wait long to give it another shot: the pair's next game is a rematch scheduled at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday.