Baseball Game Preview: West Aurora Blackhawks vs. West Chicago Wildcats

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Previous Games

03/28/23 - Home	0-4 L
04/16/21 - Away	14-1 W
04/15/19 - Home	5-5 T
04/13/19 - Away	6-5 W
04/12/19 - Home	9-0 W
+ 5 more games

West Aurora has gone 8-1-1 against West Chicago recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The Blackhawks will host the Wildcats at 4:30 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (West Aurora has eight straight victories, West Chicago has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

While West Aurora didn't have the best season last year (they finished 12-19), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They walked away with a 4-1 win over Streamwood on Tuesday.

West Aurora's victory was truly a team effort as four different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Oscar Alexander Jr., who scored a run while going 1-for-3. Jake Niedzwiedz was another, scoring a run while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.

Meanwhile, West Chicago came up short against Glenbard East on Tuesday, falling 12-1.

West Aurora's win was their sixth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 10-1. The road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.8 runs over those games. As for West Chicago, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-11.

West Chicago's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: West Aurora has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .484. It's a different story for West Chicago, though, as they've only averaged .316. Will they be able to contain West Aurora's hitters?

West Aurora couldn't quite get it done against West Chicago in their previous meeting back in March of 2023 as they fell 4-0. Can the Blackhawks avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.