Baseball Game Preview: Armstrong Trojans vs. Iroquois West Raiders

The Armstrong Trojans will head out to face off against the Iroquois West Raiders at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Armstrong's pitching crew has only allowed 2.9 runs per game this season, so Iroquois West's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

Armstrong proved they can win big on Monday (they won by six) and on Tuesday they proved they can win the close ones too. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past Paxton-Buckley-Loda 6-5.

Becket Moran made a splash while hitting and pitching. He pitched five innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off six hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going 1-for-2 with two runs and one stolen base.

Moran wasn't the only one making solid contact as seven players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Carter Freeman, who went 1-for-2 with one run, one double, and one RBI. Another was Ryan Edwards, who went 1-for-3 with one run and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Iroquois West was not able to break out of their rough patch on Monday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They fell 7-3 to Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin.

Armstrong's record is now 11-4. As for Iroquois West, their loss dropped their record down to 7-9.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Armstrong has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Iroquois West struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.1 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.

Everything went Armstrong's way against Iroquois West when the teams last played back in April of 2024, as Armstrong made off with an 8-0 win. Will the Trojans repeat their success, or do the Raiders have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.