Baseball Game Preview: Pine River-Backus Tigers vs. Kelliher/Northome Mustangs

Pine River-Backus is a perfect 6-0 against Kelliher/Northome since April of 2015 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Thursday. The Tigers will welcome the Mustangs at 4:30 p.m. Kelliher/Northome took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Pine River-Backus, who comes in off a win.

Pine River-Backus was handed a heart-breaking two-run defeat in their last matchup, but they sure didn't let that happen against McGregor on Tuesday. The Tigers put the hurt on the Mercuries with a sharp 8-1 win. The Tigers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four games by seven runs or more this season.

Jonathan Shogren made a splash no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out eight batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned run off five hits (and only one walk). Pine River-Backus is 2-1 when Shogren allows one or fewer earned runs, but 3-5 otherwise. Shogren was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-4 with two RBI and one run.

In other batting news, Koal Oberfell and Andrew Volk did most of the damage at the plate: Oberfell got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs, while Volk got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two RBI. Those two RBI gave Volk a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Owen Dabill, who went 1-for-2 with two RBI.

Meanwhile, Kelliher/Northome was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their fifth straight loss. They came up short against Walker-Hackensack-Akeley, falling 14-0.

Kelliher/Northome's defeat dropped their record down to 0-5. As for Pine River-Backus, their victory ended a four-game drought at home and bumped them up to 5-6.

Everything went Pine River-Backus' way against Kelliher/Northome when the teams last played back in May of 2024, as Pine River-Backus made off with a 12-0 win. Will the Tigers repeat their success, or do the Mustangs have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.