The Parke Heritage Wolves will square off against the Southmont Mounties at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Parke Heritage will be looking to extend their current seven-game winning streak.
Parke Heritage is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They never let North Putnam get on the board and left with a 6-0 victory. The Wolves might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won ten matchups by six runs or more this season.
The result came thanks to Jerrid Graves's shutout, as he gave up just a hit.
On the hitting side, Renn Harper was incredible, going 3-for-4 with two runs, one triple, and one double.
Meanwhile, Southmont had just enough and edged out South Putnam 9-8 on Wednesday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Mounties.
Phisher Benge made a big impact no matter where he played. He struck out seven batters over seven innings while giving up three earned runs off five hits. Those seven strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-5 with two RBI and one run.
In other batting news, Southmont let Caden Miller and Dean McGaughey run wild. Miller got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two RBI, one run, and one double, while McGaughey went 1-for-5 with two runs, one triple, and one RBI. McGaughey has become a key player for Southmont: the team is 6-3 when he posts at least two runs, but 0-14 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Eden Hernandez, who got on base in three of his five plate appearances with two runs and one RBI.
Southmont always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .524. They are a perfect 3-0 when they post an OBP of .513 or better.
Southmont's win bumped their record up to 6-17. As for Parke Heritage, their victory bumped their record up to 16-8.
Southmont's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Parke Heritage hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .327. It's a different story for Southmont, though, as they've only averaged .242. Will they be able to contain Parke Heritage's hitters?
Parke Heritage skirted past Southmont 2-0 when the teams last played back in April of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Wolves since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
