Baseball Game Preview: Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial Knights vs. New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva Panthers

The Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial Knights will head out to challenge the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva Panthers at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial hasn't scored more than a single run for five games straight, a trend the team is eager to reverse.

On Tuesday, Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial didn't have quite enough to beat Sibley East and fell 2-1.

Meanwhile, New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva fell victim to Maple River and their airtight pitching crew on Thursday. They took a 5-0 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Eagles. The loss continues a trend for the Panthers in their meetings with the Eagles: they've now lost three in a row.

New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Carter Martens, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base and one double. That double was Martens' first of the season.

New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva's defeat dropped their record down to 3-9. As for Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial, their loss dropped their record down to 4-9.

Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial was able to grind out a solid win over New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva when the teams last played back in May of 2024, winning 9-5. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Knights since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.