Baseball Game Preview: Iroquois West Raiders vs. Ridgeview Mustangs

The Iroquois West Raiders will head out to square off against the Ridgeview Mustangs at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Iroquois West is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.2 runs per game this season.

On Monday, Iroquois West didn't have quite enough to beat Salt Fork and fell 5-4. The defeat continues a trend for the Raiders in their meetings with the Storm: they've now lost five in a row.

Owen Hartke made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 1-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and one stolen base. Rylan Pheifer was another key player, going 1-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Ridgeview was not able to break out of their rough patch on Saturday as the team picked up their tenth straight loss. They came up short against Roanoke-Benson/Lowpoint-Washburn, falling 14-4.

Ridgeview saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Max Mason, who went 1-for-2 with one triple, two RBI, and one run. That triple was Mason's first of the season.

Ridgeview's defeat dropped their record down to 7-14-1. As for Iroquois West, their loss dropped their record down to 10-13.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Iroquois West has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.3 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Ridgeview struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.1 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.

Iroquois West took their win against Ridgeview in their previous meeting back in May of 2023 by a conclusive 16-5 score. Do the Raiders have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Mustangs turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.