Baseball Preview: Valparaiso Vikings vs. New Prairie Cougars
Valparaiso is on a nine-game streak of home wins, while New Prairie is on a four-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Valparaiso Vikings will take on the New Prairie Cougars at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the pair will really light up the scoreboard.
Valparaiso is hoping to deliver their fans another blowout on Monday, just like they did against Knox (and have done all season long). Valparaiso's pitchers stepped up to hand Knox a 10-0 shutout on Friday.
Caden Crowell was incredible, going 3-for-4 with a home run, four RBI, and two runs. Edward Curry was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, New Prairie faced Chesterton in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Saturday. New Prairie won by a run and slipped past Chesterton 12-11.
The team relied heavily on Brody Traxler, who scored three runs while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Beau Kmiecik, who scored a run and stole two bases while going 3-for-4.
Valparaiso has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 15 of their last 16 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 20-2 record this season. As for New Prairie, their win bumped their record up to 21-5.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Valparaiso has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.1 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like New Prairie struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.6. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Valparaiso came up short against New Prairie in their previous matchup back in May of 2023, falling 5-2. Can Valparaiso avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
