The Burlington Cougars will venture away from home to challenge the Holyoke Dragons at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Holyoke took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Burlington, who comes in off a win.
Burlington barely beat Stratton the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Cougars never let the Eagles get on the board and left with an 8-0 victory on Thursday. The win continues a trend for the Cougars in their matchups with the Eagles: they've now won five in a row.
Daxton Skarphol made a big impact no matter where he played. He didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out six over 6.1 innings pitched. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Burlington is 4-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 2-7 otherwise. Skarphol was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in all three of his plate appearances with one stolen base and one double.
Scout Humrich
| 04/24/25 vs Stratton | 3 |
| 05/09/24 @ Sedgwick County | 2 |
| 03/21/24 vs Eads | 2 |
| 04/17/25 @ Colby | 1 |
| 04/15/25 vs Limon | 1 |
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Scout Humrich, who went 1-for-3 with three RBI, one triple, and one stolen base. Those three RBI gave him a new career-high. Darian McDonough was another key player, going 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, two RBI, and one run.
Meanwhile, Holyoke was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their 20th straight loss dating back to last season. They lost 24-10 to Haxtun. Even if the Dragons couldn't come away with the victory, the high-scoring effort was a great turnaround for their hitters, which had struggled int the games prior.
Tomas Estrada and Eduardo Hermosillo did some serious damage despite the final result: Estrada went 2-for-3 with three runs, one stolen base, and one RBI, while Hermosillo got on base in all three of his plate appearances with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run. That stolen base marked the first that Estrada has snagged this season.
Burlington pushed their record up to 6-8 with the win, which was their third straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.0 runs over those games. As for Holyoke, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-19.
Holyoke's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Saturday. Burlington has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.4 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Holyoke, though, as they've been averaging only 3.9 strikeouts. Will Burlington keep running through batters, or will the Dragons buck the trend?
Burlington might still be hurting after the 10-0 loss they got from Holyoke when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Can the Cougars avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
