Baseball Preview: McLean County Cougars vs. Madisonville-North Hopkins Maroons
The McLean County Cougars will play host again on Saturday to welcome the Madisonville-North Hopkins Maroons, where first pitch is scheduled at 11:00 a.m. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
McLean County is hoping to deliver their fans another blowout on Saturday, just like they did against Union County (and have done all season long). McLean County beat Union County on Friday by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 17-7.
Connor Mitchuson was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Mitchuson has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two hits in five consecutive pitching appearances. Mitchuson was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.
In other batting news, Jaelin Groves was a standout: he scored three runs and stole three bases while going 1-for-3. Another player making a difference was Layden Bozarth, who scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Madisonville-North Hopkins had to endure a three-game losing streak, but that streak is no more. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past Union County 6-4.
Ryder Sandidge was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 2-for-3.
McLean County pushed their record up to 21-11 with that win, which was their fourth straight at home. As for Madisonville-North Hopkins, their victory ended a five-game drought at home and bumped them up to 13-16.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Saturday as neither team is afraid to steal. McLean County has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.8 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Madisonville-North Hopkins struggles in that department as they've been averaging 4.5. The only question left is which team can snag more.
McLean County beat Madisonville-North Hopkins 8-5 when the teams last played back in April of 2022. Will McLean County repeat their success, or does Madisonville-North Hopkins have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
