The Oak Lawn Spartans will head out on the road to take on the Bremen Braves at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Neither Oak Lawn nor Bremen posted many runs in their last games, so it might be the pitching crews that decide this one.
Oak Lawn's hitters might be in the hot seat on Thursday considering what happened against Reavis on Wednesday. They might be feeling deja-vu: they lost 3-0 to the Rams, which was the same score (and result) they got the week prior. The loss continues a trend for Oak Lawn in their matchups with Reavis: they've now lost three in a row.
Oak Lawn had to settle for second despite strong performances on the mound from Eli Kulpinski and Manny Rangel Kulpinski pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit, while Rangel tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Rangel has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in six consecutive pitching appearances.
Meanwhile, Bremen was not able to break out of their rough patch on Wednesday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They lost 12-2 to Thornton Fractional South.
Bremen saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Vince Webber, who went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Armando Aguilar, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-3.
Oak Lawn's loss dropped their record down to 12-14. As for Bremen, their defeat dropped their record down to 11-17.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Oak Lawn has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.4 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Bremen struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.9. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Everything went Oak Lawn's way against Bremen in their previous meeting back in May of 2023 as Oak Lawn made off with an 11-0 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Oak Lawn since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
