Baseball Game Preview: McLean County Cougars vs. Perry Central Commodores

The McLean County Cougars will square off against the Perry Central Commodores at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. McLean County will be looking to extend their current seven-game winning streak.

On Thursday, McLean County was able to grind out a solid victory over Webster County, taking the game 6-2.

Jaelin Groves spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just two earned runs on four hits and racked up six Ks. He has been consistent: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, McLean County let Houston Whitaker and Layden Bozarth run wild. Whitaker went 2-for-3 with one triple, one stolen base, and two RBI, while Bozarth went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, three RBI, and one run. That's the most stolen bases Bozarth has posted since back in May of 2024. Connor Mitchuson also deserves some recognition as he hit his first double of the season.

For some reason, the away team has come away with the win the last five times Perry Central and Mitchell have met, but the home crowd finally got their W on Friday. The Commodores fell just short of the Bluejackets by a score of 3-2. The defeat continues a trend for the Commodores in their meetings with the Bluejackets: they've now lost three in a row.

McLean County pushed their record up to 10-4 with the win, which was their seventh straight on the road. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.9 runs on average over those games. As for Perry Central, their loss was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 6-6.

McLean County came out on top in a nail-biter against Perry Central in their previous matchup back in April of 2024, sneaking past 5-3. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Cougars since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.