Baseball Recap: Manteno Picks Up Fourth Consecutive Victory

Panthers

Previous 4 Games

03/28/25 @ Hoopeston	13-3
03/26/25 vs Beecher	12-2
03/25/25 @ Milford	13-6
03/18/25 vs Grant Park	16-1

Manteno put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They were the clear victors by a 13-3 margin over the Hoopeston Cornjerkers. That's two games straight that the Panthers have won by exactly ten runs.

Jake Wendling 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. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (four). He was also big at the plate, scoring three runs while going 2-for-3.

In other batting news, Brady Hespen and Tyler Buehler did most of the damage at the plate: Hespen scored three runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-4, while Buehler got on base in four of his five plate appearances with three RBI and one triple. Hespen also put up a double, which was his first of the season. Another player making a difference was Andrew Norred, who went 3-for-5 with four RBI.

Manteno was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .500. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .378 or higher every time they've taken the field this season.

Manteno's win bumped their record up to 4-0. As for Hoopeston, they have been struggling recently as they've lost four of their last five contests. That's put a noticeable dent in their 2-5 record this season.

Manteno will face off against Kankakee at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. As for Hoopeston, they will take on Herscher at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Herscher's pitching crew has only allowed 3.2 runs per game this season, so Hoopeston's hitters will have their work cut out for them.