The Kearney Catholic Stars will take on the Polk County Slammers at 2:00 p.m. on Monday. The timing is sure in Kearney Catholic's favor as the squad sits on seven straight wins at home while Polk County has been banged up by three consecutive losses on the road.
If Kearney Catholic beats Polk County with 12 runs on Monday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two contests with that exact score. Everything went the Stars' way against Southern Valley/Alma on Thursday as they made off with a 12-2 victory. Considering the Stars have won 20 matchups by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Raegan Ruyle
| 10/02/25 vs Southern Valley/Alma | 10 |
| 09/27/25 vs Cozad | 9 |
| 09/27/25 vs Polk County | 7 |
| 09/27/25 @ Adams Central | 1 |
| 09/25/25 vs Centennial | 6 |
| + 4 more games |
Raegan Ruyle made a splash no matter where she played. On the mound, she struck out ten batters over four innings while giving up just two earned runs off one hit. That's the most strikeouts she has posted since back in September. She was also big at the plate, getting on base in all three of her plate appearances with two runs, one stolen base, and one double.
In other batting news, Kearney Catholic let Maya Rahmann and Kynlee Ruyle run wild. Rahmann went 1-for-2 with two runs, one double, and one RBI, while Ruyle went 1-for-2 with two runs, one triple, and one RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Brenleigh Huxoll, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.
Meanwhile, it may have taken eight innings to finish the job, but Polk County ultimately got the result they hoped for on Thursday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Pierce, sneaking past 12-11. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Slammers considering their two-run performance the game before.
Shyenne Krol was a standout: she went 3-for-5 with three runs, three RBI, and two doubles. Kelsey Brehm was another key player, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and one double.
Polk County was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .525. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Pierce only posted a batting average of .351.
Kearney Catholic's win bumped their record up to 23-5. As for Polk County, their victory bumped their record up to 5-20.
Polk County's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Kearney Catholic has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 10.9 hits per game. It's a different story for Polk County, though, as they've been averaging 12.3 hits. Given Kearney Catholic's sizable advantage in that area, the Slammers will need to find a way to close that gap.
Kearney Catholic took their win against Polk County when the teams last played on Saturday by a conclusive 11-3 score. Will the Stars repeat their success, or do the Slammers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
