The Lake of the Woods Bears will face off against the Win-E-Mac Patriots at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. Lake of the Woods has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the game with 13 straight losses, while Win-E-Mac will come in with three straight victories.
Lake of the Woods lost 12-2 to Walker-Hackensack-Akeley on Thursday.
Lucas Holen made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and got on base in all three of his plate appearances with one stolen base and one run. That stolen base was his first of the season.
Meanwhile, Win-E-Mac's rock-solid pitchers showed up for the team's third consecutive shutout on Tuesday. They never let Kittson Central get on the board and left with a 10-0 win. Considering the Patriots have won six contests by more than five runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Braylon Hamre and Bergen Howard made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Hamre pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Meanwhile, Howard pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in six consecutive appearances. At the plate, Hamre got on base in two of his three plate appearances with two runs, while Howard went 1-for-2 with two RBI, one run, and one double.
In other batting news, Nick Schow was incredible, getting on base in all three of his plate appearances with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. Those three RBI gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Kale Smeby, who went 1-for-2 with two RBI and one run.
Win-E-Mac lost a few balls and finished the game with two home runs. That's the most home runs they've managed all season.
Win-E-Mac's victory was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 10-3. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.7 runs on average over those games. As for Lake of the Woods, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-12.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Lake of the Woods has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Win-E-Mac struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.2 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Lake of the Woods came out on top in a nail-biter against Win-E-Mac in their previous meeting back in May of 2023, sneaking past 1-0. Do the Bears have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Patriots turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
