The Fort Calhoun Pioneers will face off against the Raymond Central Mustangs at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Fort Calhoun's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They came out on top against Arlington by a score of 11-0 (the very same score they lost by in their prior game). The Pioneers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five games by six runs or more this season.
The result came thanks to Kenny Wellwood's shutout, as he gave up just four hits. He has been consistent: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in five consecutive appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Chase Bierman, who went 3-for-4 with four RBI, two runs, and one double. That's the most runs he has posted since back in April of 2024. Chase Premer was another key player, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with two RBI and one double.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Raymond Central). They put the hurt on Fairbury with a sharp 16-1 victory on Tuesday. The win continues a trend for the Mustangs in their matchups with the Jeffs: they've now won four in a row.
Hunter Sykes was a major factor no matter where he played. He struck out 11 batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. He is becoming a predictor of Raymond Central's success: when he allows at most one earned run the team is 2-1 (and 3-9 when he doesn't). Sykes was also big at the plate, earning two runs and two stolen bases.
In other batting news, Tucker Matulka was incredible, going 3-for-4 with seven stolen bases, three RBI, and two runs. Another player making a difference was Owen Kreikemeier, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI.
Raymond Central always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .576. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Fairbury only posted an OBP of .318.
Fort Calhoun pushed their record up to 11-4 with the victory, which was their sixth straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.2 runs on average over those games. As for Raymond Central, their victory bumped their record up to 5-10.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Thursday as neither team is afraid to steal. Fort Calhoun has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.6 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Raymond Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 4.9 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Fort Calhoun was able to grind out a solid win over Raymond Central in their previous meeting on Saturday, winning 6-1. Will the Pioneers repeat their success, or do the Mustangs have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
