Baseball Game Preview: Murphysboro Red Devils vs. Johnston City Indians

Murphysboro has gone a perfect 3-0 against Johnston City recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Red Devils will welcome the Indians at 4:30 p.m. Murphysboro will be strutting in after a win while Johnston City will be coming in after a defeat.

Murphysboro is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. Everything went their way against Chester on Saturday as they made off with a 12-6 victory. The win was a breath of fresh air for the Red Devils as it put an end to their five-game losing streak.

Eli Fleming made a big impact no matter where he played. On the mound, he pitched 5.2 innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off six hits. Fleming was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two runs. That's the most runs he has posted since back in May of 2025.

Korvone House

Runs Batted In (Career)

05/16/26 @ Chester	2
04/29/26 @ Anna-Jonesboro	1
04/20/26 vs Herrin	1
04/17/26 @ Massac County	1
04/06/26 vs Massac County	1

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Korvone House, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. Those two RBI gave him a new career-high.

Murphysboro was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .412. They are 4-1 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.

Meanwhile, Johnston City was not able to break out of their rough patch on Wednesday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They took a 4-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of Benton.

Murphysboro's victory bumped their record up to 5-21. As for Johnston City, their defeat dropped their record down to 12-12.

Murphysboro beat Johnston City 7-2 when the teams last played back in May of 2025. Do the Red Devils have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Indians turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.