Wildcats
| 04/24/25 @ Griffith | 11 |
| 04/23/25 @ Lowell | 2 |
| 04/21/25 vs Munster | 9 |
| 04/17/25 vs Lowell | 4 |
| 04/16/25 @ Hammond Morton | 16 |
| + 5 more games |
The Hanover Central Wildcats will head out to take on the Kankakee Valley Kougars at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Hanover Central is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 9.8 runs per game this season.
It was a proper cat-fight when Hanover Central faced off against Griffith on Thursday. The Wildcats were the clear victors by an 11-1 margin over the Panthers. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Wildcats considering their two-run performance the contest before.
Claire Edgerton spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned run on ten hits and racked up six Ks. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Hanover Central let Sienna Stilley and Nora Edgerton run wild. Stilley went 2-for-5 with one home run, four RBI, and one double, while Edgerton went 2-for-4 with one home run, three runs, and three RBI. Those three RBI gave Edgerton a new career-high. Brooklyn Oostman also deserves some recognition as she snagged her first stolen base of the season.
Hanover Central was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .389. They are 4-1 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Meanwhile, while Kankakee Valley put up some runs on Thursday, the same can't be said for Pioneer. The Kougars came out on top against the Panthers by a score of 3-0. The Kougars haven't had any issues with the Panthers recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive win against them.
Not much got past Kyli Page, who gave up just five hits to keep Pioneer off the board.
At the plate, Kankakee Valley saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Mallorie Rose, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base, one run, and one double. Another was Julia Mahmet, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one run.
Kankakee Valley's victory was their fourth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 6-3. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.0 runs over those games. As for Hanover Central, the victory snapped their losing streak at three games and leaves them with a 6-4 record.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. Hanover Central hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 1.4 home runs per game. However, it's not like Kankakee Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.8 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Hanover Central came out on top in a nail-biter against Kankakee Valley in their previous meeting two weeks ago, sneaking past 6-5. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Wildcats since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
