Baseball Preview: Manchester Squires vs. Central Noble Cougars
Manchester is 7-2 against Central Noble since May of 2018, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Saturday. The Manchester Squires will head out on the road to square off against the Central Noble Cougars at 10:00 a.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Manchester stacked an eighth blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Wednesday. They put the hurt on Northfield with a sharp 16-1 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for Manchester.
Harper Sturtsman made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out eight batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits (and only one walk). Sturtsman has been consistent recently: he hasn't pitched less than five innings in five consecutive pitching appearances. Sturtsman was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with three RBI.
In other batting news, Reiss Gaerte was a standout: he scored three runs and stole three bases while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Garrett Sites, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-2.
Meanwhile, Central Noble waltzed into their match on Friday with four straight wins... but they left with five. They won by a run and slipped past the Panthers 10-9.
Treyton Fletcher and Carter Wilkinson did most of the damage at the plate: Fletcher scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-3, while Wilkinson scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3. Jaxon Copas was another key contributor, scoring a run while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.
Manchester pushed their record up to 19-5-1 with that win, which was their tenth straight at home. As for Central Noble, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a massive bump to their 14-8 record this season.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Saturday as neither team is afraid to steal. Manchester has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.2 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Central Noble struggles in that department as they've been averaging 4.2. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Manchester suffered a grim 7-0 defeat to Central Noble in their previous matchup back in May of 2023. Can Manchester avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
