The North Eugene Highlanders will venture away from home to take on the Churchill Lancers at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with North Eugene sitting on four straight wins and Churchill on three.
North Eugene came out on top against Ashland on Friday thanks in part to the team's impressive seven-run seventh inning. The Highlanders were the clear victors by a 12-6 margin over the Grizzlies. That's two games straight that the Highlanders have won by exactly six runs.
Aaron Spratt tossed a big game, tossing 6.1 innings while giving up four earned (and one unearned) runs off seven hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one walk in six consecutive appearances.
Duncan Roudabush
| 05/02/25 @ Ashland | 2 |
| 04/23/25 @ North Salem | 1 |
| 04/11/25 @ Crater | 1 |
| 03/26/25 vs Scappoose | 1 |
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Duncan Roudabush, who went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. Those two runs gave him a new career-high. Jayce Phillipe was another key player, getting on base in three of his five plate appearances with two RBI.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Churchill). They never let Springfield get on the board and left with a 22-0 victory on Thursday. With that win, the Lancers brought their scoring average up to 6.6 runs per game.
Parker Emmons made a big impact no matter where he played. On the mound, he tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He also tossed no walks, which is notable because Churchill is 5-2 when he allows at most one walk, but 3-8 otherwise. Emmons was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs.
In other pitching news, Lucas Gansen looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out seven over four innings pitched. He also tossed no walks, which is notable because Churchill is 2-1 when he allows at most two walks, but 6-9 otherwise.
Back at the plate, Churchill got a massive performance out of Jayden Arbogast, who went 2-for-3 with three runs, three RBI, and one double. The Lancers are undefeated when Arbogast posts two or more runs, but 5-10 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Carlos Barajas, who got on base in all five of his plate appearances with three runs and one RBI.
Churchill kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 4.7 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 contests they've averaged 9.2.
North Eugene's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 7-10. The team dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 7.3 runs. As for Churchill, their record is now 8-10.
North Eugene was able to grind out a solid win over Churchill in their previous matchup back in May of 2024, winning 15-10. Will the Highlanders repeat their success, or do the Lancers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
