The Wilmington Wildcats will be playing at home against the Manteno Panthers at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Wilmington is coming into the contest hot, having won their last 19 games.
Wilmington stacked a 14th blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Tuesday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Streator a 12-0 shutout. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for Wilmington considering their one-run performance the match before.
Kyle Farrell made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out eight over six innings pitched. Farrell has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in five consecutive pitching appearances. Farrell was also big at the plate, scoring a run while going 1-for-3.
In other batting news, Joe Allgood was a standout: he scored a run while going 2-for-2. Lucas Rink was another key contributor, scoring two runs while going 3-for-4.
Meanwhile, Manteno beat Coal City 5-2 on Wednesday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Manteno.
Connor Harrod spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just two earned runs on four hits.
On the hitting side, Manteno's win was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Tyler Buehler, who scored two runs while going 2-for-4.
Wilmington pushed their record up to 21-1 with that victory, which was their 11th straight on the road. As for Manteno, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games, which somehow isn't as good as their 18-5 record this season.
Thursday's matchup will be a test for both team's pitchers. Wilmington hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .334. However, it's not like Manteno struggles in that department as they've averaged .316. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Everything went Wilmington's way against Manteno in their previous meeting on Thursday as Wilmington made off with an 11-2 win. Does Wilmington have another victory up their sleeve, or will Manteno turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
