Baseball Recap: Howards Grove Comes Up Short

Howards Grove extended their losing streak to three on Tuesday, dropping them down to 3-19. They came up short against the Cedar Grove-Belgium Rockets, falling 14-3. If the Tigers were looking for revenge after losing 8-0 to the Rockets when the teams met back in May of 2025, then they'll just have to keep looking.

Parker Wilson made the most of his time in the batter's box despite the final result and went 2-for-3 with three RBI and one double.

As for Cedar Grove-Belgium, their victory bumped their record up to 15-3. Considering they have won 11 matchups by more than seven runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.

On Cedar Grove-Belgium's side, Austin Knapp made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He struck out seven batters over four innings while giving up three earned runs off four hits (and only one walk). Those seven strikeouts gave Knapp a new career-high. He was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with one home run, two runs, and one stolen base. That home run was his first of the season.

In other batting news, Cedar Grove-Belgium got a massive performance out of Ira Hilbelink, who went 2-for-3 with one home run, three runs, and three RBI. Hilbelink is becoming a predictor of the Rockets' success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 1-3 when he doesn't). The team also got some help courtesy of Griffin Knight, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with three runs, one stolen base, and one double.

While Howards Grove had to take the loss, they won't have to wait long to give it another shot: the pair's next game is a rematch scheduled at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday.