The St. Joseph-Ogden Spartans will face off against the Villa Grove Blue Devils at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. St. Joseph-Ogden's hitters haven't had much luck over their past three matchups, but Friday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.
St. Joseph-Ogden came into this matchup off a tough 12-run loss on Wednesday. This time they kept things ultra-competitive, but unfortunately the final result was the same. They fell just short of Pontiac by a score of 2-0 on Thursday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest defeat the Spartans have suffered since April 12, 2024.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Villa Grove). Everything went their way against Heritage on Thursday as they made off with a 23-6 win. The victory was familiar territory for the Blue Devils, who have now won four contests in a row.
Piper Kiser and Izzy Dodd made a splash no matter where they played. On the mound, Kiser pitched two innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit. Meanwhile, Dodd tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Kiser has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances. At the plate, Kiser got on base in four of her five plate appearances with three runs, one triple, and one stolen base, while Dodd went 3-for-6 with two runs, two doubles, and one RBI. That triple marked the first that Kiser has hit this season.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Madison Hinds, who went a perfect 5-for-5 with one home run, four runs, and five RBI. Those five hits gave her a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Ella Schweighart, who went 2-for-5 with three RBI, two runs, and one stolen base.
St. Joseph-Ogden's loss was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 5-1 and their overall record down to 13-7. As for Villa Grove, their win bumped their record up to 9-3.
Everything went St. Joseph-Ogden's way against Villa Grove when the teams last played back in April of 2024, as St. Joseph-Ogden made off with a 15-4 victory. Do the Spartans have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Blue Devils turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
