Baseball Game Preview: Maconaquah Braves vs. Western Panthers

Maconaquah is 0-8 against Western since May of 2015 but things could change on Thursday. The Braves are taking a road trip to take on the Panthers at 6:00 p.m. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Maconaquah will bounce into Thursday's match after beating Carroll, who they had gone 2-7 against in their nine prior meetings. The Braves blew past the Cougars 9-2 on Tuesday.

Bennett Isenburg

Runs Batted In (Career)

04/15/25 vs Carroll	3
05/17/24 vs Eastbrook	2
04/27/24 @ Eastern	2
04/17/24 vs Manchester	2
04/14/25 vs Eastbrook	1

Bennett Isenburg and Caiden Richards made a splash while hitting and pitching. Throwing, Isenburg didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out seven over five innings pitched. Meanwhile, Richards tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. At bat, Isenburg scored a run while going 2-for-4, while Richards scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3. The dominant performance also gave Isenburg a new career-high in RBI (three).

They weren't the only ones making solid contact as four players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Deven Mitchell, who went 2-for-4 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. That's the most runs he has posted since back in May of 2024. Jayden Mercer was another, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-2.

Meanwhile, Western waltzed into their game on Wednesday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They came out on top against the Huskies by a score of 8-4.

Western also got a great performance from Miles Rudy as he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out eight over 6.1 innings pitched.

At the plate, Brady Comer was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 1-for-2. Another player making a difference was Kyler Norman, who scored a run while going 1-for-4.

Western's record is now 7-1. As for Maconaquah, they now have a winning record of 2-1.

Maconaquah couldn't quite get it done against Western when the teams last played back in April of 2023 as they fell 6-2. Can the Braves avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.