The Illiana Christian Vikings will look to defend their home field on Friday against the Highland Trojans at 4:30 p.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Illiana Christian is probably headed into the contest with a chip on their shoulder considering Griffith just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Tuesday. They fell just short of the Panthers by a score of 8-7.
Armaan Sen was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he pitched 4.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off five hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one walk in three consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Tyler Balkema was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring a run and stealing two bases while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Isaac VanderWoude, who went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases.
Meanwhile, Highland suffered a rough 9-1 defeat at the hands of Andrean on Tuesday.
Highland also got a good showing from Liam Habel, who tossed four innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off three hits.
At the plate, Highland saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Caden Quigg, who went 2-for-3 with a stolen base.
Illiana Christian's loss ended a five-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 8-2. As for Highland, they have been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-10 record this season.
Highland's pitching crew has a tough task ahead of them: Illiana Christian hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .387. It's a different story for Highland, though, as they've only averaged .203. Will they be able to contain Illiana Christian's hitters?
Illiana Christian came out on top in a nail-biter against Highland when the teams last played back in April of 2023, sneaking past 8-7. Does Illiana Christian have another victory up their sleeve, or will Highland turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
