An exciting East v. West battle is about to be fought. The Northeast Eagles will take on the West Creek Coyote on Monday. Northeast will be strutting in after a win while West Creek will be coming in after a defeat.
Northeast made up a huge gap compared to their last game against Hopkinsville, but they still couldn't quite topple them. The Eagles put the hurt on the Tigers with a sharp 10-4 victory on Friday.
Cayden Young made a big impact no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing six innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off six hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (three). He was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing two bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
In other pitching news, Jayko Rodriguez looked comfortable as he pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (two).
Back at the plate, Jackson Meece was a standout: he scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. Cameron Skaggs was another key player, scoring a run while going 3-for-5.
Northeast kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 5.3 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 games they've averaged 8.8.
Meanwhile, West Creek was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their eighth straight loss. They fell 7-4 to Hume-Fogg.
West Creek saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Shaun Chumley, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Another was Alik George, who scored a run and stole two bases.
Northeast has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six matchups. That's provided a massive bump to their 9-14 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.0 runs over those games. As for West Creek, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-12.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Monday as neither team is afraid to steal. Northeast has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 2.9 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like West Creek struggles in that department as they've been averaging 3.2 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Northeast took their victory against West Creek in their previous meeting back in March by a conclusive 11-1 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Eagles since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
