In their first game on Friday, Grand Island faced Lincoln East in a battle between two of the state's top teams. The Grand Island Islanders fell just short of the Lincoln East Spartans by a score of 9-7. Grand Island's defeat signaled the end of their three-game winning streak.
Grand Island saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Gabe Ruiz, who went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBI. Ethan Foley was another key contributor, scoring two runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
On Lincoln East's side, Carter Mick led a balanced Spartans bullpen and didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit while striking out six over five innings pitched. Mick has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two hits every time he's pitched this season.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Troy Peltz, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 4-for-4. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Owen Laessig, who scored a run while going 3-for-4.
Grand Island's loss dropped their record down to 4-2. As for Lincoln East, their win was their 12th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 10-0.
Grand Island will head out on the road to take on Kearney at 4:00 p.m. in their second game on Friday. Grand Island's pitching crew has only allowed four runs per game this season, so Kearney's hitters will have their work cut out for them. As for Lincoln East, they will be playing at home against Fremont on Monday. Lincoln East is strutting in with some hitting muscle, as they've averaged 10.1 runs per game this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
