Baseball Preview: Mendon Unity Mustangs vs. Illini West Chargers
Mendon Unity has been on the road for two straight, but on Tuesday they'll finally head home. They will take on the Illini West Chargers at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The pair have allowed few runs on average, (Mendon Unity: 3.9, Illini West: 3) so any runs scored will be well earned.
On Monday, Mendon Unity came up short against Quincy Notre Dame and fell 5-1. Mendon Unity has not had much luck with Quincy Notre Dame recently, as the team's come up short the last four times they've met.
Mendon Unity saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Cody Shaffer, who went 1-for-2 with two stolen bases. The team also got some help courtesy of Sawyer Allen, who scored a run and stole two bases.
Meanwhile, Illini West can now show off 11 landslide victories after their most recent match on Saturday. They put the hurt on Farmington with a sharp 12-3 victory. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for Illini West considering their two-run performance the game before.
Carter Chapin made a splash while hitting and pitching. He tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Chapin has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two hits in five consecutive pitching appearances. Chapin was even better at the plate, scoring a run while going 4-for-5.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Reece Shoup, who scored two runs while going 3-for-4. Nick Johnson was another key contributor, scoring two runs while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.
Mendon Unity's defeat dropped their record down to 14-4. As for Illini West, they have been performing well recently as they've won 11 of their last 13 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 15-3 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Mendon Unity has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.3 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Illini West struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.3. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Mendon Unity came out on top in a nail-biter against Illini West in their previous meeting back in April of 2023, sneaking past 2-1. Does Mendon Unity have another victory up their sleeve, or will Illini West turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
