The Win-E-Mac Patriots will head out to take on the Lake of the Woods Bears at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Win-E-Mac has three straight wins, Lake of the Woods has 13 straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Lake of the Woods' hitters are going to have their work cut out for them on Friday: Win-E-Mac hadn't allowed a single run the last three times they've hit the field. The Patriots blew past Kittson Central 10-0 on Tuesday. Considering the Patriots have won six matches by more than five runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Braylon Hamre and Bergen Howard made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Hamre tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Meanwhile, Howard tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in six consecutive appearances. At bat, Hamre got on base in two of his three plate appearances with two runs, while Howard went 1-for-2 with two RBI, one run, and one double.
In other batting news, Nick Schow was incredible, getting on base in all three of his plate appearances with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. Those three RBI gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Clay Below, who went 1-for-2 with two RBI and one run.
Win-E-Mac lost a few balls and finished the game with two home runs. That's the most home runs they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Lake of the Woods lost 12-2 to Walker-Hackensack-Akeley on Thursday.
Lucas Holen made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and got on base in all three of his plate appearances with one stolen base and one run. That stolen base was his first of the season.
Win-E-Mac's victory was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 10-3. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.7 runs on average over those games. As for Lake of the Woods, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-12.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Win-E-Mac has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Lake of the Woods struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.2 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
