Baseball Game Preview: North Central Thunderbirds vs. White River Valley Wolverines

The North Central Thunderbirds will take on the White River Valley Wolverines at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Having both just faced considerable losses, both teams are looking to turn things around.

North Central came up short against Vincennes Rivet on Friday, falling 19-12. Even if the Thunderbirds couldn't come away with the win, the high-scoring effort was a great turnaround for their hitters, which had struggled int the games prior.

Tyler Samm

Stolen Base

05/23/25 @ Vincennes Rivet	2
05/12/25 vs White River Valley	2
05/05/25 @ Bloomfield	2
04/28/25 vs North Vermillion	2
05/10/25 vs Loogootee	1
+ 3 more games

Lane Simmons and Tyler Samm stepped up to the plate in a big way. Simmons went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, three runs, and two doubles, while Samm got on base in four of his five plate appearances with four runs and two stolen bases. Samm is becoming a predictor of North Central's success: when he posts at least two stolen bases the team is 3-1 (and 2-13 when he doesn't). Lane Phegley was another key player, going 3-for-5 with three RBI.

Meanwhile, White River Valley was not able to break out of their rough patch on Wednesday as the team picked up their 29th straight defeat dating back to last season. They lost 22-0 to Shakamak.

North Central has been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four matches. That's put a noticeable dent in their 5-14 record this season. As for White River Valley, their loss dropped their record down to 0-14.

White River Valley's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Thursday. North Central has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.7 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for White River Valley, though, as they've been averaging only 3.4 strikeouts. Will North Central keep running through batters, or will the Wolverines buck the trend?

North Central beat White River Valley 8-3 in their previous meeting two weeks ago. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Thunderbirds since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.