Forest Park dropped to 6-8 on Thursday, ending the team's three-game streak of wins at home. They came up short against the Midtown Knights, falling 12-5. Unfortunately, that's the second time they've come up short against the Knights this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 6-4 last Friday.
Forest Park saw seven different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Andy Barredo, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI and one double. That double was Barredo's first of the season. Another was Jacoby Hendricks, who went 2-for-4 with one run, one double, and one RBI.
As for Midtown, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games. That's provided a massive bump to their 5-6 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 4.0 runs on average over those games.
On Midtown's side, Dylan Smith made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching three innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off four hits. Smith has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going 1-for-2 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run. Those two RBI gave him a new career-high.
In other pitching news, Patrick Rebillot looked comfortable as he struck out seven batters over four innings while giving up just two earned runs off five hits. Those seven strikeouts gave him a new career-high.
Back at the plate, Midtown let Beckett Boatright and Kingston Glover run wild. Boatright got on base in three of his four plate appearances with four stolen bases and two runs, while Glover went 2-for-5 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one triple. Glover is becoming a predictor of Midtown's success: when he posts at least two stolen bases the team is 4-1 (and 1-5 when he doesn't). Elijah Smith was another key player, going 2-for-5 with three runs, one stolen base, and two RBI.
We've got plenty of inter-region action coming up soon. Forest Park will square off against rival Mays at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Meanwhile, Midtown is set to challenge their familiar foe Jackson at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.
