The Midwest Central Raiders are taking a road trip to square off against the Beardstown Tigers at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Midwest Central is coming into the game on a five-game losing streak.
On Thursday, Midwest Central came up short against Deer Creek-Mackinaw and fell 9-4.
Midwest Central saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Ayla Charlton, who went 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI. Grace Meeks was another, getting on base in two of her four plate appearances with one stolen base and one run.
Meanwhile, Beardstown never let their opponents score on Monday. Everything went their way against Macomb as they made off with a 9-0 win. The Tigers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 14 matchups by seven runs or more this season.
Khloe Kearns was a major factor no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, keeping things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 18 over seven innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts any time she's pitched this season. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with two RBI and one double.
In other batting news, Beardstown got a big performance out of Ava Quigley, who went 3-for-5 with two runs, one double, and one RBI. Those three hits gave Quigley a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Ava Knous, who went 2-for-4 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.
Beardstown was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .412. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Macomb only posted a batting average of .045.
Beardstown pushed their record up to 18-3 with the victory, which was their fourth straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.5 runs on average over those games. As for Midwest Central, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-18.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Tuesday as neither team is afraid to steal. Midwest Central has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 2.8 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Beardstown struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 4 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Everything went Midwest Central's way against Beardstown in their previous meeting back in May of 2019, as Midwest Central made off with a 10-3 victory. Will the Raiders repeat their success, or do the Tigers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
