Baseball Game Preview: Papillion-LaVista Monarchs vs. Gretna Dragons

Papillion-LaVista and Gretna are an even 5-5 against one another since April of 2016, but likely not for long. The Monarchs will be taking part in a tournament against the Dragons at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. The timing is sure in Papillion-LaVista's favor as the squad sits on five straight wins at home while Gretna has been banged up by six consecutive losses on the road dating back to last season.

Papillion-LaVista proved they can win big on Thursday (they won by ten) and on Friday they proved they can win the close ones too. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 3-1 win over Lincoln Southeast.

Caden Sterling

Batters Struck Out (Career)

04/11/25 vs Lincoln Southeast	6
03/24/25 @ Omaha Westside	5
03/27/24 @ Pius X	5
04/19/24 vs Elkhorn South	4
04/12/24 vs Papillion-LaVista South	4

Papillion-LaVista got a great performance from Caden Sterling as he struck out six batters over six innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. Those six strikeouts gave Sterling a new career-high.

On the hitting side, Papillion-LaVista's victory was truly a team effort as four different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Evan Eddie, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-4.

Meanwhile, Gretna had just enough and edged out Bellevue West 5-4 on Thursday.

Jaxon Nielsen looked comfortable as he pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. He also tossed no walks, which is notable because Gretna is 2-1 when he allows at most one walk, but 1-6 otherwise.

Papillion-LaVista is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 8-5 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Gretna, their victory bumped their record up to 3-7.

Gretna's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Saturday. Papillion-LaVista has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.6 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Gretna, though, as they've been averaging only 4 strikeouts. Will Papillion-LaVista keep running through batters, or will the Dragons buck the trend? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other baseball content.