vs
| 03/29/24 - Home | 7-0 W |
| 04/04/16 - Home | 21-0 W |
| 04/06/15 - Away | 7-6 W |
Franklin County has gone a perfect 3-0 against North Decatur recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Wildcats will head out to face off against the Chargers at 5:00 p.m. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Franklin County will bounce into Friday's matchup after beating Batesville, who they had gone 2-7 against in their nine prior meetings. The Wildcats never let the Bulldogs get on the board and left with a 1-0 victory on Thursday.
Franklin County saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Braylon Kruthaupt, who went 1-for-2 with one run and one double.
Meanwhile, North Decatur got the win against Edinburgh on Thursday by a conclusive 15-0. Considering the Chargers have won three contests by more than 12 runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Kamdenn McKinney and Eli Trenkmap were major factors no matter where they played. Throwing, McKinney didn't allow a single earned run while striking out seven over four innings pitched. Meanwhile, Trenkmap pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. McKinney has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in three consecutive appearances. At the plate, McKinney went 1-for-2 with two stolen bases and two runs, while Trenkmap went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs and one RBI. McKinney has become a key player for North Decatur: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 0-4 otherwise.
In other batting news, Grayson Downey and Nolan Burkhart did most of the damage at the plate: Downey went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one triple, and one stolen base, while Burkhart went 1-for-2 with one home run and three RBI. Downey is becoming a predictor of North Decatur's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 1-4 when he doesn't). Matthew Fields also deserves some recognition as he hit his first triple of the season.
North Decatur always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .706. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their OBP total in three consecutive games.
Franklin County has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 5-4 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.4 runs on average over those games. As for North Decatur, the victory got them back to even at 4-4.
Franklin County took their win against North Decatur when the teams last played back in March of 2024 by a conclusive 7-0 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Wildcats since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
