The Hartford Orioles will take on the West Bend East Suns at 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Hartford has six straight wins, West Bend East has five straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Hartford's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Monday. They were the clear victors by a 10-0 margin over Cedarburg. Considering the Orioles have won five contests by more than six runs this season, Monday's blowout was nothing new.
Hartford got a great performance from Jack Perkowski as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out seven over 4.2 innings pitched. Perkowski has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in four consecutive appearances.
Brady Helms
| 04/28/25 @ Cedarburg | 2 |
| 04/25/25 vs Grafton | 1 |
| 04/17/25 vs West Bend West | 1 |
| 04/08/25 @ Kettle Moraine Lutheran | 1 |
At the plate, Brady Helms was excellent, going 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI. Those two stolen bases gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Ethan Birkel, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with one run and one RBI.
Hartford hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team has now struck out at least four batters in four consecutive games.
Meanwhile, West Bend East and West Bend West faced off in a cross-town battle on Monday. The Suns fell 11-6 to the Spartans.
Orion Holmes and Davis Rowley did some serious damage despite the final result: Holmes got on base in all four of his plate appearances with one run and one RBI, while Rowley went 1-for-3 with one home run.
Hartford's victory was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 8-4. The road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.6 runs over those games. As for West Bend East, their loss dropped their record down to 2-9.
West Bend East's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Hartford has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 9.1 hits per game. It's a different story for West Bend East, though, as they've been averaging 9 hits. Given Hartford's sizable advantage in that area, the Suns will need to find a way to close that gap.
Hartford took their victory against West Bend East when the teams last played back in May of 2024 by a conclusive 12-4 score. Do the Orioles have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Suns turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
