The New Palestine Dragons will challenge the East Central Trojans at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with New Palestine sitting on eight straight wins and East Central on three.
New Palestine's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They put the hurt on Greenfield-Central with a sharp 9-0 victory.
The result came thanks to Holden Hughes's shutout, as he gave up just three hits and racked up seven Ks. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, New Palestine let Jacob Morris and Rigg Mahurin run wild. Morris went 2-for-4 with one home run, four RBI, and two runs, while Mahurin got on base in four of his five plate appearances with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. That's the most RBI Morris has posted since back in May of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Gavin Neal, who got on base in four of his five plate appearances with two runs.
Meanwhile, East Central got the win against Rushville on Monday by a conclusive 13-1. The contest marked the Trojans' most dominant win of the season so far.
Joel Richter was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching four innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. Richter was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, three runs, and one double.
In other batting news, East Central got a massive performance out of Collin Harrill, who went 2-for-3 with four RBI and two runs. Harrill has become a key player for the Trojans: the team is 4-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 3-4 otherwise. Cole Reynolds was another key player, getting on base in all three of his plate appearances with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI.
East Central always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .536. That was just more of the same: they've now posted an OBP of .536 or higher in three consecutive matches.
East Central's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-5. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for New Palestine, their record is now 12-2.
New Palestine skirted past East Central 2-0 when the teams last played back in April of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Dragons since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
