The Heritage Hills Patriots will square off against the Evansville Reitz Panthers at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Heritage Hills is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.2 runs per game this season.
On Tuesday, Heritage Hills made easy work of Evansville Christian and carried off a 14-2 victory. The win continues a trend for the Patriots in their matchups with the Eagles: they've now won four in a row.
Peyton Gray was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Gray was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs, one double, and one RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Andersen Smith, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with five RBI, three runs, and one stolen base. That's the most hits he has posted since back in May of 2024. Another player making a difference was Colten Hopf, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two RBI.
Heritage Hills hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team has now struck out at least four batters in three consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Evansville Reitz was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their sixth straight defeat. They were a single run away from ending the streak, but they lost a 1-0 heartbreaker at the hands of Evansville Memorial. Surprisingly, this marked the Panthers' fifth straight game in which the away team has come away the victor.
Talan Willett spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on four hits. He has become a key player for Evansville Reitz: the team is 3-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 2-9 otherwise.
Evansville Reitz's loss dropped their record down to 5-10. As for Heritage Hills, their victory bumped their record up to 12-4.
Evansville Reitz's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Heritage Hills hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .330. It's a different story for Evansville Reitz, though, as they've only averaged .228. Will they be able to contain Heritage Hills' hitters? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.
