Platte Valley has gone a perfect 4-0 against Raymond Central recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. Platte Valley will be playing in front of their home fans against Raymond Central at 4:30 p.m. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Platte Valley is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Nebraska's top teams: Platteview, who was ranked 24th at the time (Platte Valley was ranked 12th). Platte Valley's pitcher stepped up to hand Platteview a 13-0 shutout on Wednesday. Winning may never get old, but Platte Valley sure is getting used to it with their sixth in a row.
Richard Hayes tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only one hit while striking out six over five innings pitched. Those six strikeouts gave him a new career-high.
| 04/08/26 @ Platteview | 4 |
| 03/26/26 vs Fergus Falls | 3 |
| 04/18/25 vs Nebraska City | 2 |
| 04/02/26 @ Douglas County West | 1 |
| 03/31/26 @ Seward | 1 |
At the plate, Platte Valley let Cael Smith and Jack Johnson run wild. Smith went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, four RBI, and two runs, while Johnson went 2-for-3 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. Those four RBI gave Smith a new career-high. Hayden Kauffman was another key player, going 1-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Raymond Central). Everything went their way against Palmyra on Tuesday as they made off with a 12-5 win. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Mustangs considering their two-run performance the game before.
Wyatt Jelinek was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out six batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off two hits. He is becoming a predictor of Raymond Central's success: when he allows at most three hits the team is 2-1 (and 0-5 when he doesn't). Jelinek was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with one stolen base, one run, and one double. He is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged at least one in each of the last three games he's played.
In other batting news, Tucker Matulka was a standout: he went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, three runs, and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Zayden Frye, who went 2-for-5 with two runs, one stolen base, and one double.
Raymond Central kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. That's the most hits they've managed all season.
Platte Valley's victory bumped their record up to 9-1. As for Raymond Central, their win bumped their record up to 2-6.
Platte Valley got the 'W' in their previous meeting back in April of 2025 against Raymond Central by a conclusive 15-3 score. Will Platte Valley repeat their success, or does Raymond Central has a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
