The Central Rockets will venture away from home to challenge the Coal City Coalers at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday.
On Friday, Central came up short against Dundee-Crown and fell 11-8.
Nicholas Sherry and Sam Maglares stepped up to the plate in a big way. Sherry went 2-for-4 with one home run and two RBI, while Maglares went 1-for-3 with one home run and two RBI. That home run marked the first that Sherry has launched this season. Another player making a difference was Connor Sreckov, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with three RBI and one run.
Meanwhile, Coal City had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 12 runs) and they went ahead and made it four on Thursday. Their pitchers stepped up to hand the Kays a 10-0 shutout. Considering the Coalers have won 13 matchups by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Tyce Farrell was incredible, going a perfect 2-for-2 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. Gavin Berger was another key player, going 1-for-3 with one triple, one stolen base, and two RBI.
Central's defeat dropped their record down to 12-16-2. As for Coal City, their win bumped their record up to 22-7.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Saturday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Central has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.5 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Coal City struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 8.3 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Central got the 'W' in their previous meeting back in May of 2025 against Coal City by a conclusive 10-1 score. Will the Rockets repeat their success, or do the Coalers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
