Baseball Game Preview: Prout Crusaders vs. Ponaganset Chieftains

The Prout Crusaders are taking a road trip to challenge the Ponaganset Chieftains at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Prout will be strutting in after a victory while Ponaganset will be coming in after a defeat.

Prout can't be too worried about heading out to take on Ponaganset: they just beat North Providence at home, who had been dominant on their own field up to that point. The Crusaders came out on top against the Cougars by a score of 9-5 on Tuesday. That's two games straight that the Crusaders have won by exactly four runs.

Andrew Nowell made a big impact no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out eight over 5.2 innings pitched. He has been consistent: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in six consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going 3-for-5 with two RBI and one run. That's the most hits he has posted since back in April.

In other batting news, Reid Klug and Kaden Osenkowski did most of the damage at the plate: Klug got on base in three of his five plate appearances with two RBI and one double, while Osenkowski went a perfect 1-for-1 with one run, one double, and one RBI. Lucas Sheehan also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.

Prout hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as North Providence struck out nine times.

Meanwhile, Ponaganset faced West Warwick in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Tuesday. The Chieftains took a 5-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Wizards.

The win made it two in a row for Prout and bumps their season record up to 7-8. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 6.5 runs over those games. As for Ponaganset, their loss was their third straight at home, which dropped their record down to 8-10.

Everything went Prout's way against Ponaganset when the teams last played back in April of 2024, as Prout made off with a 9-2 win. Will the Crusaders repeat their success, or do the Chieftains have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.