The North Boone Vikings will face off against the Dakota Indians at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. North Boone is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last five games.
On Thursday, North Boone got the win against Oregon by a conclusive 16-3. The Vikings might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 11 contests by six runs or more this season.
Max Bartlett made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (four). He was also solid in the batter's box, going a perfect 1-for-1 with two RBI and one run.
North Boone was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .455. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .375 or higher in three consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Dakota came up short against Eastland on Friday and fell 11-6.
Dakota saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Brayden Larson, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs and one double. The Indians are 7-2 when Larson posts two or more runs, but 3-7 otherwise. Brodie Goode was another, going 2-for-4 with one stolen base and one RBI.
Dakota's loss dropped their record down to 10-9. As for North Boone, their victory bumped their record up to 16-14.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Saturday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. North Boone has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Dakota struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.2 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
North Boone was able to grind out a solid win over Dakota in their previous meeting back in March of 2025, winning 10-7. Do the Vikings have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Indians turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
