Baseball Game Preview: Northwest Vikings vs. Houston County Fighting Irish

The Northwest Vikings will venture away from home to face off against the Houston County Fighting Irish at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Houston County took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Northwest, who comes in off a win.

Northwest is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They put the hurt on Kenwood with a sharp 16-4 win on Tuesday. The home team had taken home the W every time these teams have met since April 25, 2023, but that streak is no more.

Trevor Prater made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing 3.2 innings while giving up just one earned run off five hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one walk in four consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing two bases while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances. Those two stolen bases gave him a new career-high.

In other batting news, Northwest got a big performance out of Bricen Moore, who scored three runs while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances. Christian Magsby also deserves some recognition as he scored his first runs of the season.

Northwest always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .553. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.

Meanwhile, Houston County lost 11-4 to McKenzie on Monday. The Fighting Irish haven't had much luck with the Rebels recently, as the team has come up short the last six times they've met.

Houston County saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Ryder Forrester, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.

Northwest's victory ended a nine-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 3-11. As for Houston County, their loss dropped their record down to 4-7.