Baseball Game Preview: Redwood Valley Cardinals vs. Montevideo Thunderhawks

The Redwood Valley Cardinals will head out on the road to challenge the Montevideo Thunderhawks at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Having struggled with three losses in a row, Redwood Valley turned things around against Blue Earth on Thursday. They walked away with a 6-3 win over the Buccaneers. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last four times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.

Meanwhile, Montevideo came tearing into Thursday's game with five straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 5.4 runs), and they left with even more momentum. Everything went their way against the Warriors as they made off with a 9-1 victory. Considering the Thunderhawks have won six contests by more than six runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.

Griffin Epema spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered a run (which was unearned) on one hit and racked up 13 Ks.

At the plate, Sam Knoop and Ben Gunlogson did most of the damage at the plate: Knoop went a perfect 4-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and two doubles, while Gunlogson went a perfect 4-for-4 with two runs, one triple, and one stolen base. Gunlogson is crushing it when it comes to stolen bases: he's snagged at least one every time he's taken the field this season. Landon Olson also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.

Montevideo was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .424. The last time their batting average was this high was was before the start of last season.

Montevideo's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 9-2. The road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.0 runs over those games. As for Redwood Valley, their record is now 2-10.

Redwood Valley came up short against Montevideo when the teams last played back in May of 2024, falling 12-9. Can the Cardinals avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.