The Rock Falls Rockets are taking a road trip to  challenge the Sterling Golden Warriors  at 6:30  p.m.  on Friday. Rock Falls will be strutting in after a  victory while Sterling will be coming in after a  loss.
Rock Falls barely beat Stillman Valley the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Rockets put the hurt on the Cardinals with a sharp  9-3 win on Thursday. The result was nothing new for the Rockets, who have now won three games by six  runs or more  so far this season.
 Ethan Mathews and  Carter Hunter were a major factor no matter where they played. Throwing,  Mathews   tossed 1.2 innings while giving up   no  earned runs off   one  hit. Meanwhile,  Hunter   struck out six batters over  5.1 innings while giving up just one earned  (and two unearned) runs off   three  hits. Mathews has been consistent  recently: he hasn't  given up  more than two  hits in three consecutive appearances. At bat,  Mathews  scored a  run and  stole three bases while  getting on base  in two of his four plate appearances, while  Hunter  scored a  run while  getting on base  in three of his five plate appearances.

 Austin Castaneda
| 03/31/25 @ Prophetstown | 4 | 
| 04/10/25 @ Stillman Valley | 3 | 
| 04/03/25 vs Freeport | 2 | 
| 04/08/25 @ Byron | 1 | 
| 03/27/25 vs Princeton | 1 | 
| + 1 more games | 
 In other batting news,  Austin Castaneda was  incredible,  scoring three  runs and  stealing six bases while  getting on base  in four of his five plate appearances. He is becoming a predictor of Rock Falls' success: when he posts  at  least two  runs the team is undefeated (and 2-4-1 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was  Owen Mandrell, who  scored three  runs and  stole a base while  getting on base  in three of his five plate appearances.
 Rock Falls  always had someone on base and  finished the game having  posted an OBP of .523. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Stillman Valley only posted  an  OBP of  .333.
Meanwhile, Sterling was not able to break out of their rough patch  on Thursday as the team picked up their fifth straight  defeat. They came up short against  Rock Island, falling  9-3.
 Sterling saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was  Cale Nettleton, who  went 2-for-3 with one  RBI.
 Rock Falls has  been performing  well recently as they've  won four of their last five matches. That's provided a massive bump to their 5-4-1 record  this season. Those  victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.8 runs on average over those games. As for Sterling, their loss dropped their record down to 5-8.
 Rock Falls couldn't quite get it done against Sterling in their previous meeting  back in March of 2024 as they fell  8-5. Can the Rockets avenge their  defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.