Baseball Preview: Logan Longhorns vs. Melrose Buffaloes
The Logan Longhorns will face off against the Melrose Buffaloes at 12:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty run totals in their previous games.
Logan is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Grady and snuck past 12-11.
Kaeden Stoner was a major factor no matter where he played. He tossed 5.1 innings while giving up three earned (and one unearned) runs off six hits. Stoner was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring three runs and stealing three bases while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Izaiah Kneitz, who went 1-for-3 with a triple, a stolen base, and two RBI. Diego Sanchez was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Melrose can now show off seven landslide victories after their most recent contest on Thursday. Everything went their way against Gateway Christian as Melrose made off with a 15-4 victory. The win was familiar territory for Melrose who now have three in a row.
Like Logan, Melrose also got a great game from a two-way player: Mike Cardonita. On the mound, he struck out six batters over five innings while giving up four earned runs off eight hits (and only one walk). Cardonita has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in nine consecutive pitching appearances. Cardonita was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while going 1-for-3.
In other batting news, Cy Draper was incredible, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-3. He continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Josiah Roybal, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Logan's victory bumped their record up to 17-4. As for Melrose, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 13-6 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Logan has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 10.4 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Melrose struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.7. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Logan couldn't quite finish off Melrose in their previous meeting two weeks ago and fell 4-2. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Melrose's Dathan Yeary, who struck out nine batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off six hits. Now that Logan knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
