Baseball Game Preview: Effingham Hearts vs. Centralia Orphans

The Effingham Hearts are taking a road trip to challenge the Centralia Orphans at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Effingham will be strutting in after a victory while Centralia will be coming in after a loss.

Having struggled with three defeats in a row, Effingham turned things around against Civic Memorial on Thursday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against the Eagles, sneaking past 4-2.

Meanwhile, Centralia didn't have quite enough to beat Marion on Thursday and fell 3-2. The loss continues a trend for the Orphans in their meetings with the Wildcats: they've now lost three in a row.

Centralia's defeat dropped their record down to 15-12. As for Effingham, their win bumped their record up to 19-10.

Effingham was able to grind out a solid victory over Centralia when the teams last played back in May of 2024, winning 9-4. Will the Hearts repeat their success, or do the Orphans have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.