Baseball Game Preview: Northview Wildcats vs. West Ottawa Panthers

The Northview Wildcats will face off against the West Ottawa Panthers at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Northview has three straight victories, West Ottawa has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

It was a classic North v. South duel when Northview faced off against South Christian on Wednesday. The Wildcats came out on top against the Sailors by a score of 4-1.

Rockford hit West Ottawa with a five-run sixth inning on Thursday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Panthers came up short against the Rams, falling 7-1. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest defeat the Panthers have suffered since April 22nd.

Josiah Cuellar was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he tossed five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off three hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-low in walks (one).

On the hitting side, West Ottawa saw seven different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Chase Gerlach, who went 1-for-3 with one RBI.

West Ottawa's loss dropped their record down to 18-14. As for Northview, their win bumped their record up to 16-5.

Northview beat West Ottawa 9-4 when the teams last played back in May of 2019. Do the Wildcats have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Panthers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.