Baseball Game Preview: Shawnee Braves vs. Northwestern Warriors

The Shawnee Braves will square off against the Northwestern Warriors at 5:15 p.m. on Monday. The two teams have had a bumpy ride up to this point with three consecutive losses apiece.

Last Friday, Shawnee came up short against Tecumseh and fell 7-4.

Joey Ross and Kaiden Roeder stepped up to the plate in a big way. Ross scored a run and stole a base while going 3-for-3, while Roeder scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Luke Finnell also deserves some recognition as he scored his first run of the season.

Meanwhile, Northwestern scored first but ultimately less than West Liberty-Salem in their contest on Saturday. They fell 11-7 to the Tigers. That's two games in a row now that the Warriors have lost by exactly four runs.

Kaleb Valle made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and scored two runs and stole three bases while going 4-for-4. Another player making a difference was Samuel Baggett, who scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.

Northwestern's defeat dropped their record down to 4-3. As for Shawnee, their loss dropped their record down to 1-5.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Shawnee has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Northwestern struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.

Shawnee was able to grind out a solid win over Northwestern when the teams last played back in April of 2024, winning 8-5. Will the Braves repeat their success, or do the Warriors have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.