There's no place like home for Kankakee Valley, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Tuesday. Everything went their way against the Merrillville Pirates on Friday as they made off with a 16-8 win. With that victory, the Kougars brought their scoring average up to 6.2 runs per game.

Luke Bayci
| 04/18/25 vs Merrillville | 3 |
| 04/12/25 vs Michigan City | 2 |
| 05/10/24 vs Washington Township | 2 |
| 05/06/24 vs Lowell | 2 |
| 05/17/24 vs La Porte | 1 |
Luke Bayci made a splash no matter where he played. He pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up a single hit in three consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in two of his four plate appearances with three runs and one RBI. Those three runs gave him a new career-high.
In other batting news, Jason Parker was a standout: he went 2-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and one double. Zach Eggers also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.
Kankakee Valley's record now sits at 3-4-1. As for Merrillville, they dropped their record down to 0-7 with the loss, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season.
Coming up, Kankakee Valley will venture away from home to square off against Glenn at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. As for Merrillville, they didn't take long to hit the field again: they've already played their next match, a 6-1 win against Whiting on the 19th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps