Baseball Game Preview: Fieldcrest Knights vs. Heyworth Hornets

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Previous Games

05/02/25 - Home	10-6 W
04/10/24 - Away	2-1 W
05/13/23 - Home	4-6 L
04/12/23 - Home	5-4 W
05/10/22 - Away	6-5 W
+ 5 more games

Fieldcrest is 8-2 against Heyworth since April of 2016 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Friday. The Knights will challenge the Hornets at 4:30 p.m.

Fieldcrest came into their game on Wednesday off a hard-fought close win, but unfortunately suffered a serious change of fortune. They lost 10-0 to Eureka. The Knights' defeat signaled the end of their three-game winning streak.

Heyworth not only won on Thursday, but they posted their biggest win since April 13th (when they won 11-1). They blew past Delavan 10-0. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Hornets considering their two-run performance the game before.

Braydon Laesch made a splash no matter where he played. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out 14 over six innings pitched. Those 14 strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also big at the plate, going 3-for-4 with three RBI, one stolen base, and one run. He is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged at least one in each of the last three games he's played.

In other batting news, Heyworth got a massive performance out of Carter Brooks, who went 1-for-2 with two runs, one triple, and one stolen base. Brooks is becoming a predictor of the Hornets' success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 4-10-2 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Lucas Bartels, who went 1-for-3 with two runs, one triple, and two RBI.

Heyworth always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .529. They are 2-1 when they post an OBP of .513 or better.

Fieldcrest's loss dropped their record down to 8-10. As for Heyworth, their record is now 7-10-2.

Fieldcrest beat Heyworth 10-6 in their previous meeting back in May of 2025. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Knights since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.