The Wilmington Wildcats will challenge the Manteno Panthers at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Wilmington 3.3, Manteno 2.8) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Wilmington is probably headed into the game with a chip on their shoulder considering Morris just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Thursday. They fell 6-2 to the Redskins.
Wilmington saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Dierks Geiss, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, Manteno put another one in the bag on Thursday to keep their perfect season alive. They came out on top against Bloom by a score of 7-3.
Jake Wendling and Braden Campbell made a splash no matter where they played. Throwing, Wendling pitched 3.1 innings while giving up just one earned run but no hits. Meanwhile, Campbell struck out six batters over 3.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. The dominant performance also gave Wendling a new career-high in strikeouts (five). At bat, Wendling scored a run while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances, while Campbell went 2-for-4 with one stolen base and one RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Quinn Borden, who scored two runs and stole three bases while going 1-for-4. That's the most stolen bases he has posted since back in April of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Maddoz Toepper, who scored a run while going 1-for-4.
Manteno's victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 8-0. As for Wilmington, they now have a losing record of 4-5.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Monday as neither team is afraid to steal. Wilmington has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 2.8 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Manteno struggles in that department as they've been averaging 5 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Wilmington was able to grind out a solid win over Manteno in their previous matchup back in May of 2024, winning 5-2. Do the Wildcats have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Panthers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
