Baseball Preview: Illiana Christian Vikings vs. Wheeler Bearcats
The Illiana Christian Vikings are on the road again on Saturday to play the Wheeler Bearcats at 11:00 a.m. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Illiana Christian is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Monday. Everything went their way against North Newton as Illiana Christian made off with a 9-1 victory. Considering Illiana Christian has won 13 contests by more than seven runs this season, Monday's blowout was nothing new.
The team relied heavily on Luke Smith, who went 1-for-2 with a home run, a stolen base, and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Aaron Gouwens, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with a home run.
Meanwhile, Wheeler gave up the first runs last Monday, but they didn't let that get them down. They narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past South Central 14-12. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Wheeler.
The team relied heavily on Braydon Prskalo, who scored three runs while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. Lucas McNamara was another key contributor, scoring three runs while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.
Illiana Christian has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 18-9 record this season. As for Wheeler, they now have a winning record of 13-12.
Saturday's match will be a test for both team's pitchers. Illiana Christian hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .328. However, it's not like Wheeler struggles in that department as they've averaged .315. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Everything went Illiana Christian's way against Wheeler when the teams last played back in April as Illiana Christian made off with a 24-2 victory. Will Illiana Christian repeat their success, or does Wheeler have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
