The Cedarville Indians will head out on the road to square off against the West Liberty-Salem Tigers at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Cedarville sitting on five straight wins and West Liberty-Salem on seven.
Cedarville will head into Friday's game hoping to keep the good times rolling: they proved they can win big on Tuesday (they won by six) but on Friday they proved they can win the close ones too. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Northeastern and snuck past 3-1.
Xavier Pauling spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on seven hits.
At the plate, Cedarville's victory was truly a team effort as seven different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Jackson Miller, who scored a run and stole two bases while going 1-for-3. Another player making a difference was Mason Johnson, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-2.
Meanwhile, in what's become a running theme this season, West Liberty-Salem gave their fans yet another huge win on Friday. They blew past Catholic Central 16-2. West Liberty-Salem's hitters stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most runs they've scored all season.
Peyton Hull tossed a big game, striking out six batters over six innings while giving up just two earned runs off seven hits (and only one walk).
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Jake Evans, who scored three runs and stole four bases while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. Isaac Sertell was another key contributor, going 2-for-5 with three RBI, two runs, and a triple.
Cedarville is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 9-5 record this season. As for West Liberty-Salem, their victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 13-3.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Monday as neither team is afraid to steal. Cedarville has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.1 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like West Liberty-Salem struggles in that department as they've been averaging 3.1. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Cedarville might still be hurting after the 14-6 loss they got from West Liberty-Salem in their previous matchup back in April of 2023. Can Cedarville avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
