The Appleton East Patriots will be staying on the road on Thursday to face off against the Appleton North Lightning at 4:30 p.m. Given that both teams suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this game.
Last Saturday, Appleton East came up short against Notre Dame Academy and fell 5-1.
Meanwhile, Appleton North also suffered a loss in their last game, but this one to Neenah by a score of 8-4.
Appleton North saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Matthew Hietpas, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-3. Another player making a difference was Nick Bergin, who went 3-for-4 with two stolen bases.
Even though they lost, Appleton North was hitting in the alleys and finished the game with three doubles. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Neenah didn't hit any.
Appleton East's loss dropped their record down to 7-14. As for Appleton North, they have been struggling recently as they've lost four of their last five contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 14-6 record this season.
Appleton East came up short against Appleton North in their previous meeting back in April, falling 7-2. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Hietpas, who didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out nine over five innings pitched. Now that Appleton East knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
