Baseball Game Preview: Delta Eagles vs. Western Panthers

The Delta Eagles will face off against the Western Panthers on Saturday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Delta is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Monday. Their pitchers stepped up to hand Hamilton Heights a 13-0 shutout. The victory was familiar territory for the Eagles, who have now won five games in a row.

Zane Cline

Batters Struck Out

06/02/25 vs Hamilton Heights	9
05/28/25 vs Connersville	13
05/22/25 vs Pendleton Heights	5
05/17/25 @ Yorktown	10
05/07/25 vs New Palestine	9
+ 4 more games

Zane Cline was a major factor no matter where he played. He didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out nine over four innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in nine consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with one stolen base and one run.

In other batting news, Delta let Everrett Linn and Chase Ritchie run wild. Linn got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one triple, two RBI, and one run, while Ritchie got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two runs and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Brady Williams, who went 1-for-2 with two runs and one RBI.

Delta was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .455. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .300 or higher in five consecutive matchups.

Meanwhile, Western entered their tilt with Peru on Monday with six consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with seven. They blew past the Tigers 10-0. Ten seems to be a good number for the Panthers as the squad scooped up a win with the same number of runs in their previous game.

Western's victory bumped their record up to 26-4. As for Delta, their win bumped their record up to 21-9.

Delta might still be hurting after the 15-4 defeat they got from Western when the teams last played back in June of 2016. Can the Eagles avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.