The Vernon Hills Cougars will head out on the road to square off against the Rolling Meadows Mustangs at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Vernon Hills will aim to continue their three-game streak of scoring more runs each matchup than the last.
Vernon Hills had to skate by with only a one-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the ten-run drubbing they dealt Antioch on Friday. The Cougars' pitcher stepped up to hand the Sequoits a 10-0 shutout. Considering the Cougars have won ten contests by more than five runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Vernon Hills got a great performance from Ethan Haenle as he didn't allow a single earned run over five innings pitched.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Kyle Kim, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. That's the most runs he has posted since back in April. The team also got some help courtesy of Devin Ratajczak, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with three runs and one stolen base.
Vernon Hills always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .522. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Antioch only posted an OBP of .222.
Meanwhile, while it was Rolling Meadows who put the first runs on the board on Wednesday, it was Dundee-Crown who put up more. The Mustangs fell just short of the Chargers by a score of 5-3. The Mustangs have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Rolling Meadows also got a good showing from Jack Hoeper, who pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. That's the first time Hoeper hasn't allowed a single earned run since back in April.
On the hitting side, Rolling Meadows saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Luke Schneider, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base and one run. Schneider is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged at least one in each of the last three games he's played.
Vernon Hills' record is now 20-10-1. As for Rolling Meadows, their loss dropped their record down to 19-12.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Saturday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Vernon Hills has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Rolling Meadows struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.6 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
