Lennard is 1-7 against Sickles since March of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Saturday. The Lennard Longhorns will be playing at home against the Sickles Gryphons at 1:00 p.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average, (Lennard: 3.3, Sickles: 1.8) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Lennard scored the most runs they've had all season to find success on Thursday. Their pitchers stepped up to hand Brandon a 15-0 shutout. Lennard might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team's won four matches by eight runs or more this season.
Christian Skaggs looked comfortable as he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits (he also only allowed one walk).
On the hitting side, Matthew Counts was a standout: he scored three runs and stole three bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Rowland Ruiz was another key contributor, going 2-for-3 with four RBI and a double.
Meanwhile, Sickles earned an 8-3 win over Blake on Thursday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Sickles.
Emilio Salgado was excellent, scoring a run while going 3-for-4. Another player making a difference was Will Lichtenfels, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances.
The victory got Lennard back to even at 6-6. As for Sickles, their win was their 15th straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-3.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Saturday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Lennard has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.1 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Sickles struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.4 per game. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Lennard beat Sickles 6-2 in their previous matchup last Monday. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Sickles' Carter LeBlanc, who struck out nine batters over six innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off five hits. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Lennard still be able to contain LeBlanc? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
