Baseball Game Preview: Hopkins Royals vs. Minnetonka Skippers

The Hopkins Royals will venture away from home to face off against the Minnetonka Skippers at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Hopkins has three straight wins, Minnetonka has four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Hopkins had to skate by with only a one-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the ten-run drubbing they dealt Eden Prairie on Wednesday. The Royals were the clear victors by a 12-2 margin over the Eagles. The Royals not only won on Wednesday, but they posted their biggest win since April 9th (when they won 12-2).

Meanwhile, Minnetonka fought the good fight in their extra-innings match against Prior Lake on Thursday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Lakers by a score of 2-1.

Mateo Aldecocea was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out nine over eight innings pitched. Furthermore, he didn't allow a single earned run, the first time he has blanked an opponent since back in April.

On the hitting side, Minnetonka saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Carter Storts, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one RBI.

Hopkins pushed their record up to 10-8 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. 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 Minnetonka, their loss dropped their record down to 10-7.

Hopkins skirted past Minnetonka 2-0 in their previous meeting back in April. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Royals since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.