The Elida Bulldogs will head out to square off against the Lima Senior Spartans at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Elida's pitching crew has only allowed 3.8 runs per game this season, so Lima Senior's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Elida will bounce into Friday's matchup after beating Wapakoneta, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. The Bulldogs never let the Redskins get on the board and left with a 2-0 win on Thursday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Bulldogs.
The result came thanks to Ryan McGue's shutout, as he gave up just two hits and racked up 13 Ks.
On the hitting side, Elida saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Ben Adcock, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base and one run.
Meanwhile, Lima Senior made easy work of Waite on Thursday and carried off a 17-1 victory. Considering the Spartans have won six contests by more than nine runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Lima Senior got a massive performance out of Emmanuel Jokinen-Rutz, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with two stolen bases, five RBI, and two runs. Those four hits gave Jokinen-Rutz a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Ja'Irus Wash, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with four runs, two stolen bases, and two RBI.
Lima Senior was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .385. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their batting average total in four consecutive games.
Elida's record now sits at 11-9. As for Lima Senior, their record is now 6-12.
Elida came up short against Lima Senior in their previous meeting back in May of 2024, falling 8-4. Can the Bulldogs avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
