Baseball Game Preview: Hayes Pacers vs. Westerville North Warriors

The Hayes Pacers will square off against the Westerville North Warriors at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Hayes is headed into the matchup having just posted their closest win since May 7, 2024 on Wednesday. They had just enough and edged out Big Walnut 3-2.

Meanwhile, Westerville North had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 10 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Saturday. Their pitchers stepped up to hand the Fighting Irish an 8-0 shutout. The Warriors might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three contests by eight runs or more this season.

Austin Heminger made a splash while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run over four innings pitched. Heminger was also solid in the batter's box, scoring three runs and stealing two bases while going 1-for-3. That's the most runs he has posted since back in April of 2024.

Heminger wasn't the only one making solid contact as five players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Ethan Robinson, who scored a run while going 2-for-4. That's the most hits Robinson has posted since back in March of 2024. Dane Blackstone was another, scoring a run while going 1-for-3.

Hayes pushed their record up to 2-4 with the victory, which was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.4 runs on average over those games. As for Westerville North, their victory bumped their record up to 3-1.

Hayes came up short against Westerville North in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, falling 5-0. Can the Pacers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.