West Central is 1-9 against North Newton since April of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The West Central Trojans will head out on the road to square off against the North Newton Spartans at 4:30 p.m. West Central is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.5 runs per game this season.
West Central is hoping to deliver their fans another blowout on Friday, just like they did against DeMotte Christian (and have done all season long). Everything went West Central's way against DeMotte Christian on Friday as West Central made off with a 15-5 win. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for West Central considering their two-run performance the match before.
Landon Gutwein made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing an inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Gutwein was even better at the plate, scoring four runs and stealing three bases while going 2-for-4.
In other batting news, Garner Moon and Jacob Pilarski did most of the damage at the plate: Moon scored a run and stole two bases while getting on base in all five of his plate appearances, while Pilarski went 1-for-4 with two runs, a triple, and two RBI.
Meanwhile, North Newton narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past South Newton 3-2. The win made it back-to-back victories for North Newton.
Joseph Fritz spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just two earned runs on ten hits and racked up seven Ks.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Patrick Barry, who went 2-for-2 with a home run, three stolen bases, and two RBI. He is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now stolen at least one in the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Evan Gagnon, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-4.
West Central has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games, which provided a massive bump to their 6-6 record this season. As for North Newton, their record now sits at 14-5.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Friday as neither team is afraid to steal. West Central has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.8 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like North Newton struggles in that department as they've been averaging 5.6. The only question left is which team can snag more.
West Central might still be hurting after the 6-0 loss they got from North Newton in their previous meeting back in April. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Gagnon, who didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out 13 over 6.1 innings pitched. Now that West Central knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
