New Athens lost a heartbreaker to Sparta when they met back in March, and they left with a heavy heart again on Friday. The New Athens Yellow Jackets fell just short of the Sparta Bulldogs by a score of 5-4. The loss continues a trend for New Athens in their matchups with Sparta: they've now lost three in a row.
New Athens saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Nolan Parker, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4.
On Sparta's side, James Pillers made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He pitched four innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits. Pillers has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive pitching appearances. Pillers was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-3.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Tyler Loucks, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
New Athens' defeat dropped their record down to 10-13. As for Sparta, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 14-10 record this season.
New Athens will be staying on the road on Monday to face off against Steeleville at 4:30 p.m. As for Sparta, they will look to defend their home field on Saturday against Marissa/Coulterville at 10:00 a.m. Sparta's pitching crew has only allowed 3.8 runs per game this season, so Marissa/Coulterville's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
