Baseball Game Preview: Raymond Central Mustangs vs. Louisville Lions

The Raymond Central Mustangs will challenge the Louisville Lions at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.

Raymond Central fought the good fight in their extra-innings match against Douglas County West on Tuesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Falcon by a score of 5-4. The loss continues a trend for the Mustangs in their meetings with the Falcon: they've now lost five in a row.

Tucker Matulka was huge while hitting and pitching even without the win. He pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 3-for-3. He also hit two doubles, marking his first of the season.

Hunter Sykes

Stolen Base

04/15/25 vs Douglas County West	2
04/14/25 @ Arlington	1
04/10/25 vs Platte Valley	1

Matulka wasn't the only one making solid contact as four players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Hunter Sykes, who scored a run and stole two bases while going 3-for-5. Sykes has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Louisville). Everything went their way against Fairbury on Tuesday as they made off with a 22-4 victory. The high-scoring effort was just what the Lions needed considering they were shut out in their previous contest.

Like Raymond Central, Louisville also got a great game from a two-way player: Alex Sorensen. On the mound, he struck out eight batters over 3.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off one hit. Louisville is 2-1 when Sorensen allows one or fewer earned runs, but 1-9 otherwise. Sorensen was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.

In other batting news, Tanner Barry was incredible, scoring four runs while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances. Those four runs gave him a new career-high.

With the win, Louisville broke their five-game losing streak and moved their record to 3-10. As for Raymond Central, their record is now 2-9.

Raymond Central might still be hurting after the 16-2 defeat they got from Louisville when the teams last played two weeks ago. Can the Mustangs avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.