The Arcola Purple Riders will head out on the road to face off against the Villa Grove Blue Devils at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, these teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Arcola took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They blew past Tri-County [Kansas/Shiloh/Oakland] 11-5. The win continues a trend for the Purple Riders in their matchups with the Titans: they've now won seven in a row.
Meanwhile, Villa Grove made easy work of Cumberland on Thursday and carried off a 15-5 victory. Considering the Blue Devils have won seven matchups by more than seven runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Piper Kiser was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she struck out six batters over five innings while giving up three earned (and two unearned) runs off five hits. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of her four plate appearances with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI.
In other batting news, Villa Grove let Madison Hinds and Olivia Jones run wild. Hinds went 3-for-4 with six RBI and one run, while Jones went 1-for-3 with one home run and three RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Hayden Thomas, who went 1-for-3 with two runs and one RBI.
Villa Grove always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .594. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Cumberland only posted an OBP of .240.
Villa Grove pushed their record up to 10-5 with the win, which was their third straight at home. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.7 runs on average over those games. As for Arcola, their record now sits at 8-10.
Arcola came up short against Villa Grove in their previous meeting back in May of 2024, falling 7-3. Can the Purple Riders avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
