The Baltic Bulldogs will head out on the road to face off against the Sioux Valley Cossacks at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Baltic has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the contest with three straight defeats, while Sioux Valley will come in with three straight wins.
Baltic came up short against McCook Central/Montrose on Tuesday, falling 19-8.
Finley Kortemeyer and Kaylee Siemonsma did some serious damage despite the final result: Kortemeyer went 1-for-3 with one home run and three RBI, while Siemonsma went 2-for-3 with two doubles, two RBI, and one run. Those RBI marked the first that Siemonsma has brought in this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Amaris Handsaker, who went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases and one run.
Meanwhile, Sioux Valley faced Flandreau in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Monday. The Cossacks never let the Fliers get on the board and left with a 10-0 victory.
McKinley Schwab made a big impact while hitting and pitching. She didn't allow a single earned run while striking out 16 over seven innings pitched. With that strong performance, she is now averaging an impressive 6.6 strikeouts per game. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 3-for-5 with one triple, one run, and one RBI.
In other batting news, Amelia Jacobson was incredible, going 3-for-5 with two runs, one triple, and one stolen base. Zaylee Lantgen was another key player, getting on base in three of her four plate appearances with two runs and one double.
Sioux Valley always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .548. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Flandreau only posted an OBP of .192.
Baltic's loss was their first in the region, dropping their region record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 5-4. As for Sioux Valley, the win got them back to even at 3-3.
Baltic suffered a grim 12-2 defeat to Sioux Valley when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Can the Bulldogs avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
