The Bennington Badgers will head out on the road to square off against the Waverly Vikings at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Bennington 3.9, Waverly 3.4) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Bennington is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Nebraska's top teams: Gretna East, who was ranked 21st at the time (Bennington was ranked 23rd). The Badgers had just enough and edged out the Griffins 8-7 on Tuesday.
Brody Lichty looked comfortable as he pitched 1.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Gabe Nickel, who got on base in four of his five plate appearances with two RBI and one run. Braydan Kloster also deserves some recognition as he hit his first triple of the season.
Meanwhile, Waverly waltzed into their matchup on Tuesday with four straight wins... but they left with five. They walked away with a 9-6 win over the Grizzlies.
Kael Lade tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only two hits over five innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up a single earned run in three consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Carsen Malcolm and Cy Dewing did most of the damage at the plate: Malcolm went 2-for-3 with three runs, two doubles, and one RBI, while Dewing went a perfect 3-for-3 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI. Those two doubles gave Malcolm a new career-high. Zach McElhose was another key player, going 1-for-3 with one home run and two RBI.
Waverly was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .379. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Standing Bear only posted a batting average of .250.
Bennington's record is now 10-5. As for Waverly, their record now sits at 10-4.
Bennington couldn't quite get it done against Waverly when the teams last played last Monday as they fell 7-2. Can the Badgers avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
