An exciting North v. South battle is about to be fought. The Millard North Mustangs will face off against the Elkhorn South Storm at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. The last eight games Millard North has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.
Millard North is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Papillion-LaVista South, sneaking past 5-3.
Noah Gartner tossed a big game, striking out ten batters over six innings while giving up three earned runs off six hits (and only one walk).
On the hitting side, Jackson Smith was excellent, going 1-for-2 with two runs, one double, and one RBI. That's the most runs he has posted since back in April.
Meanwhile, Elkhorn South faced Kearney in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Friday. The Storm were the clear victors by a 10-2 margin over the Bearcats. The victory was nothing new for the Storm as they're now sitting on three straight.
Elkhorn South also got a great performance from Cal Cooper as he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out 11 over six innings pitched. Cooper has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Elkhorn South's win was truly a team effort as six different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Brody Jindra, who fired off five runs, two triples, and two doubles while going 4-for-4. Another was Cam Cooper, who went 1-for-4 with two runs and one double.
Elkhorn South was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .387. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Kearney only posted a batting average of .200.
Millard North has been performing well recently as they've won nine of their last 12 matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 21-11 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.3 runs on average over those games. As for Elkhorn South, their win bumped their record up to 17-10.
Millard North couldn't quite get it done against Elkhorn South when the teams last played back in April as they fell 13-8. Can the Mustangs avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
