Preview: Iroquois West Raiders vs. Clifton Central Comets
Iroquois West is 2-7 against Clifton Central since April of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Iroquois West Raiders will head out on the road to challenge the Clifton Central Comets at 4:30 p.m. Iroquois West is looking to tack on another W to their four-game streak on the road dating back to last season.
Iroquois West pushed their score all the way to ten on Thursday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell just short of Milford by a score of 11-10. Even though they lost, Iroquois West's still made a splash at the plate and bumped their average scoring up to 6.5 runs per game (they're now ranked -1th in scoring overall).
Iroquois West got a massive performance out of Rylan Pheifer, who scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. Dean Clendenen was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-4.
Even though they lost, Iroquois West didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with nine strikeouts. That's the most strikeouts they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Clifton Central was not able to break out of their rough patch on Saturday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They fell victim to a rough 13-1 defeat at the hands of Prairie Central.
Blake Chandler was cooking despite his team's loss, going 3-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI.
Iroquois West's record is now 1-3. As for Clifton Central, they have fallen quite a ways from their 20-7-1 record last season and are now at 1-3.
Clifton Central's pitching crew has a tough task ahead of them: Iroquois West has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .452. It's a different story for Clifton Central, though, as they've only averaged .361. Will they be able to contain Iroquois West's hitters?
Iroquois West came up short against Clifton Central in their previous matchup back in March of 2023, falling 3-0. Can Iroquois West avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
