The Heartland Christian Lions will square off against the East Palestine Bulldogs at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Heartland Christian is coming into the contest on a five-game losing streak.
Heartland Christian managed to slip by Columbiana the last time these teams faced off, but didn't have those same answers this time around. The Lions lost 13-7 to the Clippers on Wednesday.
Jack Morgan
| 05/07/25 @ Columbiana | 2 |
| 04/24/25 @ East Palestine | 2 |
| 04/04/25 vs David Anderson | 2 |
| 04/12/25 @ United | 1 |
Heartland Christian saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jack Morgan, who got on base in three of his five plate appearances with two runs, one double, and one RBI. Morgan has become a key player for the Lions: the team is 2-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 1-11 otherwise. Another was Owen Bender, who went 1-for-4 with two RBI, one run, and one double.
Meanwhile, East Palestine got themselves on the board against Leetonia on Wednesday, but Leetonia never followed suit. They were the clear victors by an 8-0 margin over the Bears. Considering the Bulldogs have won eight matchups by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Cale Moraski made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only two hits while striking out 14 over five innings pitched. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in April. He was also stellar in the batter's box, going a perfect 3-for-3 with two stolen bases, two RBI, and one run. He has been hot, having posted at least one stolen base the last six times he's played.
In other batting news, Peyton Rutledge and Jaxson Robb did most of the damage at the plate: Rutledge got on base in two of his three plate appearances with two stolen bases and one run, while Robb got on base in all three of his plate appearances with two runs and one stolen base. Those two stolen bases gave Rutledge a new career-high. Tommy Beatty was another key player, going 1-for-3 with two runs and one stolen base.
The win made it two in a row for East Palestine and bumps their season record up to 11-7. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered a grand total of 7 runs in those games. As for Heartland Christian, their loss dropped their record down to 3-12.
Heartland Christian beat East Palestine 11-7 when the teams last played two weeks ago. Will the Lions repeat their success, or do the Bulldogs have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
