The Frankfort Redbirds will take on the Benton Rangers at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have had a bumpy ride up to this point with five consecutive losses for Frankfort and 12 for Benton.
Frankfort made up a huge gap compared to their last game against Zeigler-Royalton, but they still couldn't quite topple them. The Redbirds fell just short of the Tornadoes by a score of 6-4 on Wednesday. That's two games in a row now that the Redbirds have lost by exactly two runs.
Meanwhile, Benton suffered their closest defeat since April 23, 2024 on Thursday. They fell just short of Herrin by a score of 5-3.
Kruz Koester was huge while hitting and pitching even without the win. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run over 5.1 innings pitched. What's more, he gave up only zero earned runs, the fewest he's had since back in March. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-2 with two runs and one stolen base.
Koester wasn't the only one making solid contact as four players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Hunter Irvin, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two stolen bases and one RBI.
Frankfort's loss dropped their record down to 2-13. As for Benton, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-16.
Frankfort came out on top in a nail-biter against Benton in their previous matchup last Monday, sneaking past 4-3. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Redbirds since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
