Baseball Game Preview: Libertyville Wildcats vs. Hersey Huskies

Libertyville has won six straight games at home, while Hersey has won six straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Saturday. The Wildcats will welcome the Huskies at 9:30 a.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Libertyville is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Illinois' top teams: New Trier, who was ranked 21st at the time (Libertyville was ranked 12th). The Wildcats were the clear victors by a 10-3 margin over the Trevians on Friday. Libertyville's victory was all the more impressive since the Trevians were averaging only 3.66 runs allowed on the season.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Hersey). They put the hurt on Hoffman Estates with a sharp 14-3 win on Thursday. The victory continues a trend for the Huskies in their matchups with the Hawks: they've now won three in a row.

Hersey let Keegan Luxem and Diego Garcia run wild. Luxem fired off two home runs while going 2-for-3, while Garcia went 2-for-3 with one home run, four RBI, and two runs. Those four RBI gave Garcia a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Charlie Arvanitis, who went 1-for-2 with one home run and three RBI.

They weren't the only ones working in the home run department: Hersey lost a few balls and finished the game with four home runs. That's the most home runs they've managed all season.

Libertyville has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won ten of their last 11 contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 27-3 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.4 runs on average over those games. As for Hersey, their victory bumped their record up to 23-6-1.

Libertyville took their win against Hersey when the teams last played back in May of 2024 by a conclusive 12-2 score. Do the Wildcats have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Huskies turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.