Baseball Game Preview: Newark Norsemen vs. Coal City Coalers

The Newark Norsemen are taking a road trip to square off against the Coal City Coalers at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Newark has given up an average of 6.8 runs per game this season, but Monday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

Newark fought the good fight in their extra-innings contest against Ashton-Franklin Center on Friday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell 19-16 to the Raiders. The Norsemen have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Landon Begovac

Runs

05/16/25 @ Ashton-Franklin Center	4
04/29/25 vs Serena	2
04/21/25 vs Hinckley-Big Rock	2
04/15/25 vs Indian Creek	2
04/14/25 @ Indian Creek	2
+ 11 more games

Kiptyn Bleuer and Landon Begovac stepped up to the plate in a big way. Bleuer got on base in four of his six plate appearances with three runs, three RBI, and one stolen base, while Begovac got on base in four of his five plate appearances with four runs, one stolen base, and one double. Newark is 4-2 when Begovac posts two or more runs, but 8-17 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Eastin Mcbroom, who got on base in three of his six plate appearances with one triple, one stolen base, and one run.

Meanwhile, Coal City had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 7 runs) and they went ahead and made it five on Saturday. They came out on top against the Rockets by a score of 6-2.

The team relied heavily on Donnie Ladas, who went 2-for-3 with two doubles and one RBI. That's the most doubles he has posted since back in March.

Coal City's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 21-11. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.3 runs on average over those games. As for Newark, their defeat dropped their record down to 12-19.

Newark might still be hurting after the 8-2 loss they got from Coal City in their previous meeting last Thursday. Can the Norsemen avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.