Baseball Game Preview: Waterloo Cougars vs. Cherokee Indians

For the second straight game, Waterloo will face off against Cherokee. The Cougars will welcome the Indians at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Waterloo has three straight wins, Cherokee has 18 straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Waterloo is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They put the hurt on Cherokee with a sharp 35-3 victory on Monday. The Cougars might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won six matchups by seven runs or more this season.

Stalin Wood made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out eight batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off one hit. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances. He was also stellar in the batter's box, getting on base in five of his six plate appearances with three runs and two RBI. Those two RBI gave him a new career-high.

Landon Jones

Runs Batted In (Career)

03/30/26 @ Cherokee	3
02/19/26 @ Vina	2
03/23/26 vs Tharptown	1
03/16/26 vs Covenant Christian	1

In other batting news, Landon Jones was a standout: he got on base in five of his seven plate appearances with two stolen bases, three runs, and three RBI. Those three RBI gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Jeb Austin, who got on base in six of his seven plate appearances with five RBI, three runs, and one stolen base.

Waterloo always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .717. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.

Waterloo's win bumped their record up to 8-6. As for Cherokee, their loss dropped their record down to 0-11.

Cherokee's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Waterloo hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .336. It's a different story for Cherokee, though, as they've only averaged .252. Will they be able to contain Waterloo's hitters? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.