The Peotone Blue Devils will head out on the road to face off against the Manteno Panthers at 11:00 a.m. on Friday.
While Peotone couldn't quite beat St. Anne on Thursday, the two-point margin was a huge improvement compared to the 11-point loss they were dealt on Monday. Peotone fell just short of St. Anne by a score of 6-4. Peotone has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Peotone saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Ruben Velasco, who went 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs, and a double.
Meanwhile, Manteno put another one in the bag on Thursday to keep their perfect season alive. Everything went their way against Bloom as Manteno made off with a 9-2 win. Considering Manteno has won three contests by more than six runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Brayden Campbell was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (he also only allowed one walk). Campbell was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 3-for-3.
In other batting news, Aidan Dotson was incredible, going 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBI. Maddox Toepper was another key contributor, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-2.
Peotone's defeat dropped their record down to 1-4. As for Manteno, they pushed their record up to 6-0 with that victory, which was their fourth straight on the road dating back to last season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Peotone has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.4 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Manteno struggles in that department as they've been averaging 11.3. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Peotone suffered a grim 11-0 defeat to Manteno in their previous matchup on Monday. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Manteno's Connor Harrod, who kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out seven over four innings pitched. Now that Peotone knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
