vs
| 05/10/24 - Home | 4-2 W |
| 05/07/24 - Away | 4-5 L |
| 05/06/24 - Home | 10-4 W |
| 05/11/23 - Away | 11-0 W |
| 05/10/23 - Away | 1-2 L |
| + 5 more games |
Neuqua Valley has gone 8-2 against DeKalb recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Monday. The Wildcats will venture away from home to take on the Barbs at 4:30 p.m. Neuqua Valley will be strutting in after a victory while DeKalb will be coming in after a defeat.
Neuqua Valley will roll into the game after a wild two-game stretch: they didn't score any runs on Thursday, then bounced right back against Crete-Monee on Saturday. The Wildcats' pitchers stepped up to hand the Warriors a 10-0 shutout. The high-scoring performance was a welcome turnaround for the Wildcats' hitters, who had struggled in the games prior.
Kiet Truong was a major factor no matter where he played. On the mound, he kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 11 over four innings pitched. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two hits in four consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI.
In other batting news, Neuqua Valley got a big performance out of Jorden Castillo, who went 2-for-3 with two runs and one double. That's the most hits Castillo has posted since back in May of 2024. Another player making a difference was Carson Stevens, who went 1-for-2 with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI.
Neuqua Valley hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Crete-Monee struck out 12 times.
Meanwhile, DeKalb was not able to break out of their rough patch on Saturday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They took a 7-4 hit to the loss column at the hands of Sycamore.
DeKalb also got a good showing from Lukas Stubblefield, who pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off three hits.
At the plate, DeKalb saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Nik Nelson, who went 1-for-4 with one home run. That home run was Nelson's first of the season.
Neuqua Valley has been performing well recently as they've won six of their last eight contests. That's provided a massive bump to their 9-10-1 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.3 runs on average over those games. As for DeKalb, their defeat dropped their record down to 16-7-1.
Neuqua Valley skirted past DeKalb 4-2 when the teams last played back in May of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Wildcats since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
