North Newton is 9-1 against West Central since April of 2018, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The North Newton Spartans will look to defend their home field against the West Central Trojans at 4:30 p.m. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Thursday, North Newton had just enough and edged South Newton out 3-2. The win made it back-to-back victories for North Newton.
Joseph Fritz spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just two earned runs on ten hits and racked up seven Ks.
On the hitting side, Patrick Barry was incredible, going 2-for-2 with a home run, three stolen bases, and two RBI. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played. Evan Gagnon was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-4.
Meanwhile, West Central put the finishing touches on their fourth blowout victory of the season on Friday. They put the hurt on DeMotte Christian with a sharp 15-5 win. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for West Central considering their two-run performance the game before.
Landon Gutwein made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he tossed an inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Gutwein was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring four runs and stealing three bases while going 2-for-4.
In other batting news, West Central let Garner Moon and Jacob Pilarski loose on the outfield. Moon scored a run and stole two bases while getting on base in all five of his plate appearances, while Pilarski went 1-for-4 with two runs, a triple, and two RBI.
North Newton's victory bumped their record up to 14-5. As for West Central, the win got them back to even at 6-6.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Friday as neither team is afraid to steal. North Newton has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 5.6 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like West Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging 3.8. The only question left is which team can snag more.
North Newton took their victory against West Central in their previous matchup back in April by a conclusive 6-0. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was West Central's Josiah Rodriguez, who didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit over four innings pitched. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will North Newton still be able to contain Rodriguez? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
