St. Francis is on a six-game streak of home wins (dating back to last season), while Manistee is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Gladiators will host the Chippewas at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday. St. Francis is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.2 runs per game this season.
St. Francis is probably headed into the matchup with a chip on their shoulder considering Beal City just ended the team's 11-game winning streak on Saturday. They fell just short of the Aggies by a score of 4-3. The contest marked the Gladiators' lowest-scoring game so far this season.
St. Francis saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Colton Peterson, who went 2-for-3 with one run.
Meanwhile, Manistee owes their pitching crew a big pat on the back after their performance on Tuesday. They put the hurt on Orchard View with a sharp 8-0 victory.
Hoyt Edmondson and Keegan Shannon made a big impact while hitting and pitching. Throwing, Edmondson pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Meanwhile, Shannon tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Edmondson also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Manistee is 2-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 8-11 otherwise. At the plate, Edmondson went 1-for-2 with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI, while Shannon got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI. That's the most stolen bases Edmondson has posted over his last ten matchups.
In other pitching news, Braylen Zimmerman looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out six over four innings pitched. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in April.
Back at the plate, Miles Joseph and Landin Sowa did most of the damage at the plate: Joseph went 2-for-5 with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI, while Sowa went 2-for-3 with two doubles, one run, and one RBI. That's the most hits Joseph has posted over his last ten contests.
Manistee's win bumped their record up to 10-12. As for St. Francis, their defeat dropped their record down to 14-2.
Manistee's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Wednesday. St. Francis has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.9 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Manistee, though, as they've been averaging only 4 strikeouts. Will St. Francis keep running through batters, or will the Chippewas buck the trend? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
