New Palestine is 8-2 against Pendleton Heights since May of 2018, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Tuesday. The New Palestine Dragons have the luxury of staying home for another game and will welcome the Pendleton Heights Arabians at 6:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
New Palestine will roll into the game after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up two runs on Friday, then bounced right back against Connersville on Saturday. New Palestine blew past Connersville 10-2.
The team relied heavily on Adam Rickey, who scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Gavin Neal was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing a base while getting on base in all two of his plate appearances.
Meanwhile, everything went Pendleton Heights' way against Shenandoah on Friday as Pendleton Heights made off with a 13-1 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Pendleton Heights.
Jameson Walford looked comfortable as he kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits over four innings pitched.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Bo Surface, who went 2-for-4 with a home run, two stolen bases, and two runs. Another player making a difference was Jordan Williamson, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
New Palestine has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won nine of their last ten matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 16-3 record this season. As for Pendleton Heights, they pushed their record up to 13-6 with that victory, which was their fourth straight on the road.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. New Palestine has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Pendleton Heights struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.9. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
New Palestine skirted past Pendleton Heights 1-0 in their previous meeting back in May of 2023. Will New Palestine repeat their success, or does Pendleton Heights have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
