Grand Island hasn't had much luck against Kearney recently, but that could start to change on Monday. The Islanders are taking a road trip to challenge the Bearcats at 4:00 p.m. Grand Island is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.4 runs per game this season.
Grand Island is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Nebraska's top teams: Lincoln Northeast, who was ranked 15th at the time (Grand Island was ranked tenth). The Islanders walked away with a 7-4 win over the Rockets on Friday. The victory continues a trend for the Islanders in their matchups with the Rockets: they've now won six in a row.
Gabe Ruiz tossed a big game, pitching five innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off six hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (four).
Broxton Barrientos
| 04/11/25 vs Lincoln Northeast | 5 |
| 03/21/24 vs Lincoln Southeast | 3 |
| 03/15/24 vs Millard North | 3 |
| 03/14/24 vs Lincoln High | 3 |
| 03/27/25 @ Lincoln Southeast | 2 |
At the plate, Broxton Barrientos was incredible, going 1-for-3 with one home run and five RBI. Those five RBI gave him a new career-high. Gavin Haubold also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.
Grand Island always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .516. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Lincoln Northeast only posted an OBP of .375.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Kearney). Everything went their way against Lincoln North Star on Saturday as they made off with a 22-8 win. Considering the Bearcats have won four matches by more than five runs this season, Saturday's blowout was nothing new.
Kole Throckmorton was a standout: he scored four runs while getting on base in four of his six plate appearances. Tysen Cabela was another key player, scoring three runs while getting on base in five of his six plate appearances.
The victory was the third in a row for Kearney, bringing their record up to 7-6. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 13.0 runs over those games. As for Grand Island, their record is now 7-3.
Grand Island couldn't quite get it done against Kearney in their previous matchup back in April of 2024 as they fell 7-4. Can the Islanders avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
