It was a proper cat-fight when Pine River-Backus challenged Laporte on Monday. The Tigers walked away with a 9-4 win over the Wildcats. For the Tigers, this counts as revenge for the 10-8 victory the Wildcats walked away with the last time they faced one another back in May of 2025.
| 05/04/26 @ Laporte | 10 |
| 04/20/26 @ Blackduck | 6 |
| 05/12/25 vs Nevis | 6 |
| 05/19/25 vs Ogilvie | 4 |
| 05/05/25 vs Laporte | 4 |
Andrew Volk made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out ten batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off seven hits (and only one walk). Those ten strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also stellar in the batter's box, going a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs, one stolen base, and one double.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Gage Parkin, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI. He has become a key player for Pine River-Backus: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 2-6 otherwise. Owen Dabill also deserves some recognition as he hit his first double of the season.
Pine River-Backus kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in three consecutive games.
Pine River-Backus' win bumped their record up to 5-6. As for Laporte, they dropped their record down to 4-4 with the defeat, which was their third straight at home.
Looking ahead, Pine River-Backus will host Walker-Hackensack-Akeley at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday. As for Laporte, they will head out on the road to challenge Cass Lake-Bena at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The Panthers have struggled to contain batters this season (they've allowed 13.83 runs per game on average), something the Wildcats will no doubt try to take advantage of.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
