The Harrison Raiders will face off against the Bloomington South Panthers at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Harrison 3.4, Bloomington South 3) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Having struggled with three losses in a row, Harrison turned things around against Tri-West Hendricks on Thursday. They came out on top against the Bruins by a score of 6-1.
Chase Gothrup tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run over six innings pitched. He has been consistent: he hasn't given up a single earned run in six consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Harrison's victory was truly a team effort as four different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Nolan Hodnett, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base and one RBI. Another was Jack Gonzalez, who earned one run and two stolen bases.
Meanwhile, Bloomington South entered their tilt with Franklin Community on Friday with nine consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with ten. They put the hurt on the Grizzly Cubs with a sharp 11-1 win. Bloomington South's victory was all the more impressive since the Grizzly Cubs were averaging only 3.37 runs allowed on the season.
Bloomington South also got a great performance from Connor Couch as he tossed five innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits.
On the hitting side, Max Surdam was a standout: he went a perfect 2-for-2 with one home run, three runs, and one stolen base. Those three runs gave him a new career-high. Reid Walker was another key player, going 2-for-3 with three runs, one stolen base, and one double.
Bloomington South was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .391. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their batting average total in three consecutive matches.
Bloomington South pushed their record up to 11-5 with the win, which was their seventh straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.1 runs on average over those games. As for Harrison, their win bumped their record up to 12-4.
