The Stevenson Spartans will head out to square off against the Walled Lake Western Warriors at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Stevenson came up short against Franklin on Wednesday, falling 8-1. The loss continues a trend for the Spartans in their meetings with the Patriots: they've now lost four in a row.
Stevenson saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Ben Machowicz, who went 2-for-3 with one RBI.
Meanwhile, Walled Lake Western came tearing into Wednesday's matchup with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 7.5 runs), and they left with even more momentum. Their pitchers stepped up to hand the Yellowjackets a 12-0 shutout. Considering the Warriors have won three contests by more than ten runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Vincent Roach was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 2-for-2. Those stolen bases marked the first that he snagged this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Logan Saks, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.
Walled Lake Western always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .562. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Avondale only posted an OBP of .211.
Walled Lake Western's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 5-1-1. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.3 runs on average over those games. As for Stevenson, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-6.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Stevenson has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Walled Lake Western struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 7.7 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Stevenson beat Walled Lake Western 6-3 in their previous matchup back in May of 2017. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Spartans since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps