The Nokomis Warriors will challenge the Gardiner Tigers at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Nokomis has given up an average of 7.6 runs per game this season, but Friday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.
Nokomis couldn't beat Cony on Wednesday even though they stacked four runs on them in the sixth inning. The Warriors took a 12-7 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Rams. The Warriors have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Jacob Bubar made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI. That run marked the first that he has scored this season. Another player making a difference was Owen Buck, who went 1-for-3 with one run and one RBI.
While Gardiner didn't have the best season last year (they finished 5-10), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They came out on top against Medomak Valley by a score of 4-1 on Wednesday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Tigers.
Joe Goraj spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on two hits.
On the hitting side, Gardiner let Dillon Farnham and Zach Reed run wild. Farnham went a perfect 2-for-2 with one stolen base and one run, while Reed went 1-for-2 with one stolen base, one run, and one double. The team also got some help courtesy of Alex Roy, who went 1-for-2 with two stolen bases.
Gardiner's win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 6-2. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.8 runs on average over those games. As for Nokomis, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-4.
Nokomis was able to grind out a solid win over Gardiner in their previous matchup back in April of 2024, winning 6-3. Will the Warriors repeat their success, or do the Tigers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
