The Merino Rams will take on the Haxtun Fightin' Bulldogs on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Merino comes in on three and Haxtun on ten.
Merino is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. Everything went their way against Peetz as Merino made off with a 10-4 win. The result was nothing new for Merino, who have now won seven matches by six runs or more so far this season.
Josiah Mackintosh made a splash while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out six batters over three innings while giving up just two earned runs off two hits (and only one walk). Mackintosh was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-2.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Isaac Poe, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Tyler Miller was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing a base while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Haxtun put the finishing touches on their 11th blowout victory of the season on Tuesday. They put the hurt on Prairie with a sharp 20-6 victory.
The team relied heavily on Colin Cone, who scored three runs and stole three bases while going 3-for-3. Another player making a difference was Kaiden Schelling, who scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Merino's win bumped their record up to 13-6. As for Haxtun, they are on a roll lately: they've won 12 of their last 13 games, which provided a nice bump to their 15-4 record this season.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Friday as neither team is afraid to steal. Merino has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 5.2 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Haxtun struggles in that department as they've been averaging 5. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Merino came up short against Haxtun when the teams last played back in April, falling 9-6. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Haxtun's Madden Larsen, who struck out six batters over six innings while giving up just two earned (and four unearned) runs off six hits. Now that Merino 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
