Baseball Game Preview: Bellevue West Thunderbirds vs. Papillion-LaVista Monarchs

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Previous Games

04/06/24 - Away	4-5 L
04/29/23 - Home	10-0 W
04/03/23 - Home	6-0 W
04/28/22 - Home	5-2 W
04/06/22 - Away	9-6 W
+ 5 more games

Bellevue West has gone 8-2 against Papillion-LaVista recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. Bellevue West will square off against Papillion-LaVista at 5:00 p.m. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

It was a Battle of the Birds when Bellevue West duked it out with Omaha Central on Wednesday. Bellevue West came out on top against Omaha Central by a score of 9-5. The win continues a trend for the Thunderbirds in their matchups with the Eagles: they've now won seven in a row.

Gage Schaeffer looked comfortable as he pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit.

At the plate, Aiden Ensor was incredible, going 2-for-5 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in April of 2024. Another player making a difference was Zack Pinneo, who scored two runs while going 3-for-4.

Meanwhile, Papillion-LaVista had to travel to play their first game of the season, but the final result was worth the trip. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 2-1 victory over Omaha Westside on Monday.

Papillion-LaVista also got a great performance from Brett Hoelscher as he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out six over five innings pitched.

On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Isaac Pamaran, who scored two runs and stole five bases while getting on base in three of his six plate appearances.

Bellevue West pushed their record up to 2-1 with the win, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.6 runs over those games. As for Papillion-LaVista, their record now sits at 1-0.