The Riverdale Rams are taking a road trip to take on the Mendota Trojans at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Riverdale has five straight victories, Mendota has 15 straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Riverdale barely beat Sherrard the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Rams put the hurt on the Tigers with a sharp 15-0 win on Saturday. The Rams might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 14 matches by seven runs or more this season.
Brooklyn Peterson was incredible, going a perfect 4-for-4 with one home run, five RBI, and two doubles. That's the most doubles she has posted since back in April. Another player making a difference was Katie Cox, who went 3-for-4 with three runs, three RBI, and one double.
Riverdale hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team has now struck out at least two batters in four consecutive games.
Erie-Prophetstown hit Mendota with a four-run first inning on Monday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Trojans came up short against the Panthers, falling 12-1.
Mendota saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Leah Henkel, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base.
Riverdale's victory was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 20-4. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.4 runs on average over those games. As for Mendota, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-16.
Mendota's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Riverdale has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 10.9 hits per game. It's a different story for Mendota, though, as they've been averaging 12.1 hits. Given Riverdale's sizable advantage in that area, the Trojans will need to find a way to close that gap.
Riverdale couldn't quite get it done against Mendota in their previous matchup back in April of 2022 as they fell 6-2. Can the Rams avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
