Baseball Game Preview: Shelby Whippets vs. Pleasant Spartans

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Previous 6 Games

05/15/25 - Home	12-9 W
05/08/24 - Away	6-3 W
05/06/24 - Home	5-0 W
04/06/21 - Away	14-7 W
04/10/19 - Home	7-6 W
04/09/19 - Away	8-7 W

Shelby is a perfect 6-0 against Pleasant since April of 2019 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Saturday. The Whippets will square off against the Spartans at 11:00 a.m. Shelby is coming into the contest hot, having won their last three games.

On Friday, Shelby made easy work of Madison Comprehensive and carried off an 8-2 win. Considering the Whippets have won eight matchups by more than five runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.

For whatever reason, it's the away team that's had the advantage when Pleasant and Cardington-Lincoln meet (three straight games heading into this one) and that held true again on Friday. The Spartans came out on top in a nail-biter against the Pirates, sneaking past 4-3.

Johnathan Maran tossed a big game, pitching five innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off three hits. He has become a key player for Pleasant: the team is 3-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 3-9 otherwise.

On the hitting side, Pleasant let Owen Lowry and Dillon Burns run wild. Lowry went 1-for-4 with one home run, while Burns got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one stolen base and one run.

Shelby pushed their record up to 13-9 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.7 runs on average over those games. As for Pleasant, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games. That's provided a nice bump to their 6-10 record this season.

Shelby beat Pleasant 12-9 in their previous matchup on Thursday. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Whippets since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.