Baseball Game Preview: Forest Park Rangers vs. Pike Central Chargers

The Forest Park Rangers will head out to challenge the Pike Central Chargers at 6:00 p.m. on Monday.

On Saturday, Forest Park came up short against Jasper and fell 8-4. The Rangers have struggled against the Wildcats recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive lost meeting.

Meanwhile, while Pike Central put up some runs on Saturday, the same can't be said for Wood Memorial. The Chargers were the clear victors by a 9-0 margin over the Trojans.

Jiles Mason made a splash no matter where he played. On the mound, he tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off three hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of his five plate appearances with two RBI and one run.

In other batting news, JJ Belmore was excellent, going 2-for-5 with three runs and one double. Those three runs gave him a new career-high. Kody Carter also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.

Pike Central has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games. That's provided a nice bump to their 4-13 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 6.8 runs over those games. As for Forest Park, their loss dropped their record down to 8-8.

Everything went Forest Park's way against Pike Central in their previous matchup back in April of 2024, as Forest Park made off with a 17-1 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Rangers since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.