El Paso-Gridley hasn't had much luck against Eureka recently, but that could start to change on Wednesday. The Titans will venture away from home to face off against the Hornets at 4:30 p.m. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
El Paso-Gridley had to skate by with only a two-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the ten-run drubbing they dealt Ridgeview on Monday. The Titans' pitchers stepped up to hand the Mustangs a 10-0 shutout. The Titans haven't had any issues with the Mustangs recently, as the game was their ninth consecutive win against them.
Mason Vandegraft and Caden Castleman were major factors no matter where they played. Throwing, Vandegraft didn't allow a single earned run while striking out 11 over five innings pitched. Meanwhile, Castleman pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Vandegraft also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because El Paso-Gridley is 2-1 when he allows at most two earned runs, but 2-11 otherwise. At the plate, Vandegraft went 1-for-3 with one stolen base and one run, while Castleman went 1-for-2 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
Elliott Toth
| 04/21/25 vs Ridgeview | 3 |
| 04/16/25 vs Tremont | 2 |
| 04/18/25 @ MacArthur | 1 |
| 03/24/25 vs Midwest Central | 1 |
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Elliott Toth, who went 2-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and one triple. Those three RBI gave him a new career-high.
Meanwhile, Eureka had already won nine in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 6.4 runs) and they went ahead and made it ten on Monday. They were the clear victors by an 11-4 margin over the Vikings. The result was nothing new for the Hornets, who have now won ten matches by seven runs or more so far this season.
Eureka's victory was their 11th straight at home, which pushed their record up to 17-1. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.1 runs on average over those games. As for El Paso-Gridley, their victory was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-5 and their overall record up to 4-12.
El Paso-Gridley might still be hurting after the 11-0 defeat they got from Eureka when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Can the Titans avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
