Baseball Game Preview: Start Spartans vs. Waite Indians

Start has gone a perfect 10-0 against Waite recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Tuesday. The Spartans will square off against the Indians at 5:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Start has three straight wins, Waite has five straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Start had to skate by with only a two-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the 14-run drubbing they dealt Rogers on Monday. The Spartans blew past the Rams 14-0. Considering the Spartans have won seven contests by more than nine runs this season, Monday's blowout was nothing new.

Lucas Buck

Batters Struck Out (Career)

05/11/26 vs Rogers	5
05/04/26 vs Waite	4
04/08/26 @ Anthony Wayne	2
04/17/26 vs Ross	1
03/27/26 @ Southview	1

Lucas Buck made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (five). He was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-2 with three runs. He is becoming a predictor of Start's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 4-1 (and 7-8 when he doesn't).

In other batting news, Start got a massive performance out of Robert Ramsey, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. Ramsey has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played. Another player making a difference was Kolbe Roesner, who went 2-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI.

Start always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .533. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Rogers only posted an OBP of .188.

Meanwhile, Waite lost 19-2 to Lima Senior on Monday.

Start's record now sits at 11-9. As for Waite, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-9.

Start got the 'W' when the teams last played last Monday against Waite by a conclusive 21-1 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Spartans since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.