Baseball Game Preview: Perry Central Commodores vs. McLean County Cougars

Perry Central has won three straight games at home, while McLean County has won three straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Saturday. The Commodores will host the Cougars at 1:00 p.m.

For some reason, the away team has come away with the win the last five times Perry Central and Mitchell have met, but the home crowd finally got their W on Friday. The Commodores fell just short of the Bluejackets by a score of 3-2. The defeat continues a trend for the Commodores in their meetings with the Bluejackets: they've now lost three in a row.

Meanwhile, McLean County beat Webster County 6-2 on Thursday. The Cougars haven't had any issues with the Trojans recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive victory against them.

Jaelin Groves spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just two earned runs on four hits and racked up six Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive appearances.

At the plate, Houston Whitaker and Layden Bozarth did most of the damage at the plate: Whitaker went 2-for-3 with one triple, one stolen base, and two RBI, while Bozarth went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, three RBI, and one run. That's the most stolen bases Bozarth has posted since back in May of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Connor Mitchuson, who went 1-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and one double.

McLean County's win bumped their record up to 10-4. As for Perry Central, their loss was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 6-6.

Perry Central couldn't quite finish off McLean County in their previous matchup back in April of 2024 and fell 5-3. Will the Commodores have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.