The Kankakee Valley Kougars will challenge the North Newton Spartans at 5:00 p.m. on Friday.
Hobart hit Kankakee Valley with a four-run fifth inning on Tuesday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Kougars fell 6-3 to the Brickies. The Kougars haven't had much luck with the Brickies recently, as the team has come up short the last seven times they've met.
Rowan Kenning and Declan Murr did some serious damage despite the final result: Kenning went 2-for-3 with one stolen base and one run, while Murr went 1-for-3 with one triple and one RBI. Another player making a difference was Jason Parker, who went 2-for-3 with one run and one double.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask North Newton). They had just enough and edged out West Central 17-16 on Thursday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Spartans have posted since April 15th.
Korbyn Haberlin was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off four hits. Haberlin was even better at the plate, going 2-for-4 with one home run, three runs, and one double. He is becoming a predictor of North Newton's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 2-1 (and 1-9 when he doesn't).
In other batting news, Preston Boezeman and Bryce Gibson did most of the damage at the plate: Boezeman got on base in four of his five plate appearances with three stolen bases, three runs, and one RBI, while Gibson went 3-for-5 with two runs, two doubles, and one RBI. North Newton is 2-1 when Boezeman posts two or more stolen bases, but 1-9 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Joe Stalewski, who went 1-for-4 with three runs and one stolen base.
North Newton kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 13 hits. That's the most hits they've posted since back in May of 2024.
Kankakee Valley now has a losing record of 5-6-1. As for North Newton, their victory bumped their record up to 3-10.
Everything went Kankakee Valley's way against North Newton in their previous meeting back in April of 2022, as Kankakee Valley made off with a 12-1 win. Do the Kougars have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Spartans turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
