A feisty cat fight will be fought as Waynesville Tigers duke it out with Neosho Wildcats at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams are strolling into their matches after big wins in their previous games.
Waynesville will roll into the game after a wild two-game stretch: they didn't score any runs on Thursday, then bounced right back against Osage on Friday. Waynesville put the hurt on Osage with a sharp 12-5 victory. The win continues a trend for the Tigers in their matchups with the Indians: they've now won four in a row.
Ethan Heberling made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He struck out six batters over three innings while giving up just two earned (and three unearned) runs off four hits. Heberling was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 1-for-3. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in RBI (three).
In other batting news, Sawyer Baker was incredible, going 2-for-3 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. Jonah Sahr also deserves some recognition as he hit his first double of the season.
Meanwhile, Neosho entered their tilt with St. Mary's-Colgan on Saturday with two consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with three. They never let the Panthers get on the board and left with an 11-0 victory. That 11 run margin sets a new team best for the Wildcats this season.
Alex Rodriguez tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out six over five innings pitched.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Liam McInturff, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with one home run, five RBI, and two runs. Another player making a difference was Bostyn Patterson, who went 1-for-3 with three RBI, one triple, and one run.
Neosho always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .536. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Neosho's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 6-1. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.5 runs over those games. As for Waynesville, the win got them back to even at 2-2.
