The Northwest Indians will face off against the Firestone Falcons at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Northwest took an 11-run defeat the last time they faced off against Fairless, but this time they managed to keep it close and that made all the difference. The Indians narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past the Falcons 8-7. The win was some much needed relief for the Indians as it spelled an end to their three-game losing streak.
Alex Mencini was excellent, going 1-for-5 with three runs, three RBI, and one stolen base. Landyn Stanich-Herren was another key player, going 2-for-4 with two stolen bases and one RBI.
Meanwhile, Firestone made easy work of East on Wednesday and carried off a 25-3 victory. The Falcons haven't had any issues with the Dragons recently, as the game was their eighth consecutive win against them.
Kieran Harrison and Noah Millin were major factors no matter where they played. On the mound, Harrison tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Meanwhile, Millin pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. At the plate, Harrison got on base in all three of his plate appearances with two runs and one RBI, while Millin went 1-for-3 with three RBI, two runs, and one stolen base.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Noah Liming, who went 4-for-5 with four runs, four RBI, and two doubles. Those four hits gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Nate Plas, who got on base in four of his five plate appearances with three RBI, two runs, and one double.
Firestone was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .542. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .350 or higher in three consecutive games.
Firestone's victory bumped their record up to 3-1. As for Northwest, their win was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-2 and their overall record up to 2-3.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Northwest has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Firestone struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.2 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.
