The Spooner Rails will face off against the St. Croix Falls Saints at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Spooner is coming into the match hot, having won their last six games.
If Spooner beats St. Croix Falls with five runs on Friday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two games with that exact score. The Rails sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 5-3 victory over Hayward on Thursday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Rails have posted against the Hurricanes since May 4, 2021.
The team relied heavily on Ben Eichten, who went 2-for-4 with one run, one double, and one RBI. That double marked the first that he has hit this season. Shamari Fahie was another key player, going 1-for-3 with two RBI.
Meanwhile, St. Croix Falls had to endure a three-game losing streak, but that streak is no more. They were the clear victors by a 9-1 margin over Chetek-Weyerhaeuser on Thursday. Considering the Saints have won three contests by more than seven runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Justin Wynne looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out six over four innings pitched.
At the plate, St. Croix Falls let Caden Folkestad and Drake Peterson run wild. Folkestad went 2-for-4 with three RBI, one run, and one double, while Peterson went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI. Peterson has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Carson Marks, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs and one RBI.
The victory got St. Croix Falls back to even at 5-5. As for Spooner, their win bumped their record up to 6-1.
Spooner suffered a grim 9-3 defeat to St. Croix Falls in their previous meeting back in May of 2024. Can the Rails avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
