The New Palestine Dragons will take on the Richmond Red Devils at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (New Palestine has five straight victories, Richmond has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
New Palestine is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They put the hurt on Muncie Central with a sharp 22-0 win. New Palestine's hitters stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most runs they've scored all season.
Jacob Morris was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Morris was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-3 with four RBI, a run, and a double.
In other batting news, Wyatt Matheis was incredible, scoring four runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Nic Deering, who scored three runs while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.
Meanwhile, it was a hard-fought match, but Richmond had to settle for a 5-3 loss against Seymour on Saturday.
Casey Blevins spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered five earned runs on seven hits and racked up nine Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in nine consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Richmond saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jayvian Burdette, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
New Palestine has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven contests, which provided a nice bump to their 22-5 record this season. As for Richmond, their defeat dropped their record down to 13-8.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Saturday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. New Palestine has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.6 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Richmond struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.2. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
