Oak Forest is 9-0 against Evergreen Park since May of 2016, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Saturday. The Oak Forest Bengals will play host again on Saturday to welcome the Evergreen Park Mustangs, where first pitch is scheduled at 11:00 a.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Oak Forest is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They never let Solorio onto the board and left with an 11-0 victory.
Justin Gibbs was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and only one hit while striking out six over four innings pitched. Gibbs has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive pitching appearances. Gibbs was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with a triple and an RBI.
In other pitching news, Andrew Dawson looked comfortable as he pitched an inning while giving up no earned runs or hits.
Back at the plate, Oak Forest let Andrew Lucas and Mateo Gamboa loose on the outfield. Lucas went 2-for-3 with two runs, a triple, and a stolen base, while Gamboa scored three runs and stole a base while going 3-for-3. Lucas has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played. Josh Dawson was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Evergreen Park won against Chicago Washington on Friday with six runs and they decided to stick to that run total again on Thursday. Evergreen Park was the clear victor by a 6-0 margin over Bremen. The win made it back-to-back victories for Evergreen Park.
The result came thanks to Grady Elwood's shutout, as he gave up just four hits and racked up 13 Ks.
On the hitting side, Evergreen Park's win was truly a team effort as seven different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Luke Medina, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Caleb Keyser, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI.
Oak Forest's victory was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 30-6. As for Evergreen Park, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 26-10 record this season.
Saturday's game might come down to which pitcher can control the ball better. Oak Forest has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .456. However, it's not like Evergreen Park struggles in that department as they've averaged .489. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Oak Forest was able to grind out a solid win over Evergreen Park in their previous meeting back in April, winning 5-0. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Elwood, who pitched 5.2 innings while giving up just one earned (and four unearned) runs off two hits. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Oak Forest still be able to contain Elwood? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
