Baseball Game Preview: Cowan Blackhawks vs. Eastern Hancock Royals

For the first time this season, Cowan will have a chance to prove themselves in a conference matchup. They will look to take advantage of their home field for the first time this season as they take on the Eastern Hancock Royals at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Eastern Hancock took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Cowan, who comes in off a win.

Cowan is coming home in high spirits after they had to open their season on the road against Union City. The Blackhawks put the hurt on the Indians with a sharp 13-7 win on Tuesday.

Luke Garrett and Gentry Groves made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Garrett tossed three innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off two hits. Meanwhile, Groves pitched three innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off two hits. The dominant performance also gave Garrett a new career-high in strikeouts (five). At the plate, Garrett scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-3, while Groves scored a run while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.

Jaydon Auker

Stolen Base (Career)

04/08/25 @ Union City	2
05/18/24 @ Taylor	1
05/04/24 vs Eastbrook	1
04/30/24 @ Winchester Community	1
04/22/24 @ Seton Catholic	1

In other batting news, Jaydon Auker was incredible, scoring three runs and stealing two bases while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. Those two stolen bases gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Jacob Unger, who scored two runs and stole two bases.

Meanwhile, Eastern Hancock unfortunately couldn't capitalize on their home-field advantage in their season opener. They came up short against Knightstown on Tuesday, falling 8-1. The Royals haven't had much luck with the Panthers recently, as the team has come up short the last three times they've met.

Eastern Hancock saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Aidan Morris, who went 2-for-3 with one RBI.