Baseball Game Preview: St. Croix Falls Saints vs. Hayward Hurricanes

St. Croix Falls is 8-2 against Hayward since May of 2019 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Friday. The Saints will host the Hurricanes at 3:00 p.m. St. Croix Falls is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.2 runs per game this season.

St. Croix Falls took a loss when they played away from home on Monday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. Their pitchers stepped up to hand Chetek-Weyerhaeuser a 4-0 shutout.

Brett Sladky tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only one hit over five innings pitched.

On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Alex Hoff, who went 2-for-4 with two runs and one triple. Carter Ridgeway was another key player, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with one stolen base and one RBI.

Meanwhile, after soaring to 12 runs the game before, Hayward was a bit more limited in their contest on Tuesday. They fell just short of Spooner by a score of 4-2. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest loss the Hurricanes have suffered since April 24th.

St. Croix Falls is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games. That's provided a massive bump to their 12-8 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for Hayward, their defeat dropped their record down to 13-6-1.

St. Croix Falls was able to grind out a solid victory over Hayward when the teams last played back in May of 2024, winning 3-0. Do the Saints have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Hurricanes turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.