Baseball Game Preview: Monmouth United Red Storm vs. Mercer County Golden Eagles

The Monmouth United Red Storm will challenge the Mercer County Golden Eagles at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Monmouth United has five straight wins, Mercer County has six straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Monmouth United proved they can win big on Saturday (they won by 15) and on Thursday they proved they can win the close ones too. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 2-1 victory over Cuba/Spoon River Valley. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Red Storm have posted since April 3rd.

Tanner Rogers

Batters Struck Out

04/24/25 vs Cuba/Spoon River Valley	6
04/19/25 vs Biggsville West Central	7
04/11/25 @ Abingdon/Avon	11

Tanner Rogers looked comfortable as he struck out six batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits (and only one walk). He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in three consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Ian Leffler was excellent, going 1-for-3 with one home run and two RBI.

Meanwhile, Mercer County came up short against Newman Central Catholic on Friday and fell 10-6.

Carson Boelens and Kale Breeden did some serious damage despite the final result: Boelens went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run, while Breeden went 2-for-3 with three runs. Another player making a difference was Mason Gray, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI.

Monmouth United's victory was their 13th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 17-3. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.5 runs over those games. As for Mercer County, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-11.

Monmouth United couldn't quite finish off Mercer County when the teams last played back in April of 2024 and fell 12-10. Can the Red Storm avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.