The East Moline United Panthers will take on the Mercer County Golden Eagles at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. The timing is sure in East Moline United's favor as the team sits on three straight wins at home while Mercer County has been banged up by six consecutive losses on the road.
East Moline United will roll into the match after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up one run on Monday, then bounced right back against Quincy on Wednesday. The Panthers narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past the Blue Devils 10-9. Considering the Panthers' hitters had been struggling lately, the high-scoring outing was a much-needed turnaround.
Issac Roman made a big impact no matter where he played. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run over 4.1 innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one walk in 14 consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-2 with one run and one RBI.
In other batting news, East Moline United got a massive performance out of Zach Darras, who went 3-for-4 with two runs, one triple, and one double. That's the most hits Darras has posted since back in April. Another player making a difference was Landon Skiles, who got on base in three of his five plate appearances with three RBI, one run, and one double.
East Moline United was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .433. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Quincy only posted a batting average of .300.
Meanwhile, Mercer County didn't have quite enough to beat Kewanee on Friday and fell 5-4.
Kale Breeden was cooking despite his team's loss, going 2-for-4 with two runs and one triple. That triple marked the first that he has hit this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Carson Boelens, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base and one run.
East Moline United is on a roll lately: they've won 14 of their last 17 games. That's provided a nice bump to their 15-9 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.4 runs over those games. As for Mercer County, their defeat dropped their record down to 9-15.
Everything went East Moline United's way against Mercer County in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, as East Moline United made off with a 12-2 win. Do the Panthers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Golden Eagles turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
