The Iowa Park Hawks will square off against the Benbrook Bobcats at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Iowa Park 2.3, Benbrook 2.8) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Iowa Park is headed into the game having just suffered their closest loss since March 6th on Friday. They fell just short of Jacksboro by a score of 3-1. The defeat continues a trend for the Hawks in their meetings with the Tigers: they've now lost five in a row.
AJ Ramirez spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered three earned runs on six hits and racked up 12 Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in six consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Iowa Park saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Kane Decker, who scored a run while going 1-for-3. CJ McNeill also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.
Meanwhile, Benbrook waltzed into their matchup on Saturday with five straight wins... but they left with six. They walked away with a 4-1 win over the Mavericks.
Sebastian Martinez made a big impact no matter where he played. He struck out seven batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off seven hits (and not a single walk). Martinez was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two doubles and one RBI. Those two doubles gave him a new career-high.
In other batting news, Benbrook let Ethan Smith and Tanner Madara run wild. Smith scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-3, while Madara scored a run and stole two bases while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.
Benbrook's victory was their 13th straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 14-4. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.5 runs on average over those games. As for Iowa Park, their loss dropped their record down to 13-7.
Everything went Iowa Park's way against Benbrook in their previous meeting back in May of 2021, as Iowa Park made off with a 9-3 victory. Will the Hawks repeat their success, or do the Bobcats have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
