Baseball Recap: New Palestine Drops Season-High Score on Beech Grove

Winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask New Palestine). Everything went their way against the Beech Grove Hornets on Friday as they made off with an 11-1 victory. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Dragons considering their two-run performance the game before.

Ajay Kropp looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits over four innings pitched. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two hits any time he's pitched this season.

At the plate, Gavin Neal was incredible, going 1-for-2 with two runs, one triple, and one stolen base. The team also got some help courtesy of Max Havel, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs.

Dragons

On Base Percentage

04/25/25 vs Beech Grove	53.3%
04/23/25 @ Mt. Vernon	17.9%
04/22/25 vs Mt. Vernon	40.6%
04/21/25 vs Whiteland	41.9%
04/18/25 @ Danville	36.7%
+ 10 more games

New Palestine always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .533. The last time their OBP was this high was back in May of 2024.

New Palestine's win was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-2. Those home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 6.7 runs over those games. As for Beech Grove, they are on a four-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 1-9.

Coming up, New Palestine will venture away from home to take on Franklin Central at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. As for Beech Grove, they will host Seymour at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. The Owls' pitching crew has only allowed 3.1 runs per game this season, so the Hornets' hitters will have their work cut out for them.