The McCook Central/Montrose Fighting Cougars will face off against Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (McCook Central/Montrose has three straight victories, Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
McCook Central/Montrose's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They blew past Mt. Vernon/Plankinton 15-0. The result was nothing new for the Fighting Cougars, who have now won eight matchups by six runs or more so far this season.
Zaidee Huls made a big impact no matter where she played. On the mound, she didn't allow a single earned run over four innings pitched. Huls was even better at the plate, going a perfect 4-for-4 with one home run, five RBI, and three runs. Those four hits gave her a new career-high.
Ella Deknikker
| 05/20/25 vs Mt. Vernon/Plankinton | 3 |
| 05/15/25 vs Colman-Egan | 2 |
| 05/09/25 @ Viborg/Hurley | 0 |
| 05/08/25 vs Hanson | 1 |
| 05/05/25 @ Scotland/Menno | 1 |
| + 3 more games |
In other batting news, McCook Central/Montrose got a massive performance out of Ella Deknikker, who went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases and three runs. That's the most runs Deknikker has posted since back in April. The team also got some help courtesy of Ashtyn Deknikker, who went 2-for-3 with one triple, one stolen base, and one run.
McCook Central/Montrose kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least 11 hits in three consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy suffered their closest loss since April 8, 2024 last Tuesday. They fell just short of Scotland/Menno by a score of 7-5.
McCook Central/Montrose now has a winning record of 9-8. As for Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-10-1.
Everything went McCook Central/Montrose's way against Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy when the teams last played back in May of 2024, as McCook Central/Montrose made off with a 22-13 win. Do the Fighting Cougars have another victory up their sleeve, or will Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
