Baseball Game Preview: Anna-Jonesboro Wildcats vs. Vienna Eagles

The Anna-Jonesboro Wildcats are taking a road trip to square off against the Vienna Eagles at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Anna-Jonesboro will be strutting in after a win while Vienna will be coming in after a defeat.

Anna-Jonesboro had to skate by with only a one-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the nine-run drubbing they dealt Carterville on Monday. The Wildcats blew past the Lions 12-3. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Wildcats considering their two-run performance the matchup before.

Aaron Sheffer

Runs

05/05/25 @ Carterville	2
04/15/25 vs Frankfort	2
04/08/25 @ Benton	2
03/19/25 vs Cobden	2
04/28/25 @ Frankfort	1
+ 4 more games

Aaron Sheffer was incredible, going 2-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and one stolen base. Anna-Jonesboro is undefeated when Sheffer posts two or more runs, but 3-10 otherwise. Taj Hodges also deserves some recognition as he hit his first triple of the season.

Anna-Jonesboro always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .524. The last time their OBP was this high was back in March.

Goreville hit Vienna with a five-run first inning on Tuesday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Eagles lost 9-3 to the Blackcats. The Eagles have struggled against the Blackcats recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive lost meeting.

Anna-Jonesboro has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 7-10 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.0 runs on average over those games. As for Vienna, their loss dropped their record down to 12-10.

Anna-Jonesboro took their win against Vienna when the teams last played back in April of 2024 by a conclusive 16-2 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Wildcats since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.