For the first time this season, Palatine will have a chance to prove themselves in a conference matchup. They will challenge the Conant Cougars at 4:45 p.m. on Monday. Conant took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Palatine, who comes in off a win.
Conant will be up against a hot Palatine team: the squad just extended their winning streak to three. The Pirates walked away with a 10-6 victory over Jacobs on Saturday. While the Pirates didn't have the best season last year (they finished 14-19), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.
Palatine got a great performance from Brandon Ziebell as he tossed 5.1 innings while giving up just two earned runs off three hits. Those hits were Ziebell's first of the season.
Peter Mulhern
| 04/12/25 vs Jacobs | 3 |
| 03/27/25 vs Solorio | 2 |
| 04/05/25 @ Grant Community | 1 |
| 04/04/25 @ Ridgewood | 1 |
At the plate, Peter Mulhern was a standout: he scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3. Those three runs gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Ben Ratacjzak, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with four RBI and one double.
Palatine was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .469. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Jacobs only posted a batting average of .172.
Meanwhile, Conant came up short against Bartlett on Saturday and fell 10-5. The Cougars have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Arjun Patel and Alex Martinez stepped up to the plate in a big way. Patel scored three runs and stole a base while going 1-for-3, while Martinez went 2-for-4 with one home run. Patel has become a key player for Conant: the team is 5-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 2-3-1 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Andrew Lipka, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
Palatine's win was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-3. The home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 6.5 runs over those games. As for Conant, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-4-1.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Monday. Palatine hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.4 home runs per game. However, it's not like Conant struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.7 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Palatine suffered a grim 6-0 defeat to Conant when the teams last played back in May of 2024. Can the Pirates avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
