Baseball Game Preview: Crown Point Bulldogs vs. Morgan Township Cherokees

The Crown Point Bulldogs will challenge the Morgan Township Cherokees at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Crown Point's pitching crew has only allowed 1.9 runs per game this season, so Morgan Township's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

Crown Point is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Indiana's top teams: Lake Central, who was ranked seventh at the time (Crown Point was ranked sixth). The Bulldogs' pitcher stepped up to hand the Indians a 3-0 shutout on Wednesday. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last five times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.

The result came thanks to Linus Chariton's shutout, as he gave up just a hit and racked up eight Ks. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in eight consecutive appearances.

At the plate, Billy Chidsey was excellent, going 1-for-2 with two stolen bases and one run. The team also got some help courtesy of Caden Matusak, who got on base in two of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Morgan Township, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Monday. They skirted past Glenn 1-0. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Cherokees have posted since May 23, 2024.

Crown Point's victory was their eighth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 20-4. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.4 runs over those games. As for Morgan Township, their victory bumped their record up to 7-15-1.

Crown Point was able to grind out a solid win over Morgan Township in their previous meeting back in May of 2024, winning 6-3. Will the Bulldogs repeat their success, or do the Cherokees have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.