The Hastings Tigers are taking a road trip to challenge the Beatrice Orangemen at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
If Hastings beats Beatrice with 12 runs on Saturday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two games with that exact score. Hastings put the hurt on Gretna with a sharp 12-6 victory on Thursday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Tigers.
Eli Schneider looked comfortable as he pitched 3.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit.
On the hitting side, Chance Vertin was incredible, scoring two runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Brody Dreher, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-3.
Hastings always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .545. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Gretna only posted an OBP of .364.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Beatrice). They blew past Lincoln Northwest 15-3 on Friday. The Orangemen not only won on Friday, but they posted their biggest win since April 13, 2024.
Kale Koch made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out eight batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off two hits (and only one walk). Those eight strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also stellar in the batter's box, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with one home run, one stolen base, and two RBI.
In other batting news, Ty Weichel and Austin Baldwin did most of the damage at the plate: Weichel went a perfect 2-for-2 with one home run, five RBI, and two runs, while Baldwin scored three runs and stole a base while going 4-for-4. Baldwin is crushing it when it comes to stolen bases: he's snagged at least one every time he's taken the field this season. Nolan Schmale also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.
Hastings' record is now 2-0. As for Beatrice, they moved to 2-3 with that win, which also ended their three-game losing streak.
