Baseball Game Preview: Palatine Pirates vs. Rolling Meadows Mustangs

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Previous Games

05/13/24 - Home	2-3 L
05/05/23 - Away	1-0 W
05/07/22 - Home	8-3 W
05/01/21 - Home	11-7 W
04/30/21 - Away	12-2 W
+ 5 more games

Palatine is 9-1 against Rolling Meadows since April of 2015 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Friday. The Pirates will face off against the Mustangs at 4:45 p.m. The last three games Palatine has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.

Palatine took a loss when they played away from home on Monday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Wednesday. They skirted past Barrington 9-7. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last five times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.

Carter Monroe was excellent, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs and one stolen base. Adrian Santamaria also deserves some recognition as he hit his first double of the season.

Meanwhile, Rolling Meadows hadn't done well against Buffalo Grove recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Wednesday. The Mustangs put the hurt on the Bison with a sharp 14-4 victory. The Mustangs might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won ten matchups by six runs or more this season.

Ryan Schneider and Tony Romanacce did most of the damage at the plate: Schneider got on base in four of his five plate appearances with two doubles, two RBI, and one run, while Romanacce went 1-for-3 with three runs, three RBI, and one stolen base. That's the most doubles Schneider has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Callum Paisley, who went 2-for-4 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.

Palatine is on a roll lately: they've won 11 of their last 14 games. That's provided a nice bump to their 13-6 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 6.6 runs over those games. As for Rolling Meadows, they pushed their record up to 16-4 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home.