The Independence Patriots are taking a road trip to square off against the Hoover Huskies at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Independence is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.1 runs per game this season.
Independence's pitching crew heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They blew past Midland Trail 20-0. The victory continues a trend for Independence in their matchups with Midland Trail: they've now won four in a row.
Andrew Coalson made a splash while hitting and pitching. He pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has become a key player for Independence: the team is 2-1 when he allows at most three hits, but 6-9-1 otherwise. Coalson was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with five RBI, two runs, and one stolen base. Those five RBI gave him a new career-high.
Reid Warden
| 05/02/25 vs Midland Trail | 4 |
| 04/14/25 vs PikeView | 3 |
| 04/16/25 @ Shady Spring | 2 |
| 03/26/25 @ Princeton | 2 |
| 04/24/25 vs Shady Spring | 1 |
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Reid Warden, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, three runs, and four RBI. Those four RBI gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Degan Williams, who went 1-for-4 with three runs, three RBI, and one triple.
Independence always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .692. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, Hoover unfortunately witnessed the end of their six-game winning streak on Friday. They took a 4-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of Madonna.
Hoover saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Cam Samples, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base.
Independence's record now sits at 8-10-1. As for Hoover, their loss dropped their record down to 13-9.
Hoover's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Independence hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .317. It's a different story for Hoover, though, as they've only averaged .236. Will they be able to contain Independence's hitters?
Independence came out on top in a nail-biter against Hoover in their previous meeting back in May of 2021, sneaking past 3-2. Will the Patriots repeat their success, or do the Huskies have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
