The Buffalo Grove Bison will challenge the Libertyville Wildcats at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
While Buffalo Grove's victory against New Trier wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Bison had just enough and edged out the Trevians 4-3 on Friday. The Bison haven't had any issues with the Trevians recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive win against them.
Buffalo Grove got a great performance from Natalie Whitson as she pitched five innings while giving up just two earned runs off six hits.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Erin Ryan, who went 3-for-4 with one stolen base, one run, and one double. The team also got some help courtesy of Sammi Wolverton, who went 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI.
Meanwhile, Libertyville had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 6.8 runs) and they went ahead and made it six on Saturday. They came within a single run of losing the streak, but they secured a 4-3 W against the Champions. That's two games straight that the Wildcats have won by just one run.
Mckenna Weaver spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and two unearned) runs on three hits. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Natalie Engman was excellent, going a perfect 3-for-3 with one run and one RBI. Those three hits gave her a new career-high.
Libertyville's victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 22-8. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.8 runs on average over those games. As for Buffalo Grove, their victory bumped their record up to 14-15.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Wednesday. Buffalo Grove hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.5 home runs per game. However, it's not like Libertyville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.6 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Buffalo Grove took their win against Libertyville in their previous matchup back in May of 2023 by a conclusive 10-4 score. Will the Bison repeat their success, or do the Wildcats have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
