The Geneva Panthers will square off against the North Rose-Wolcott Cougars at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Geneva has struggled recently with three losses in a row, while North Rose-Wolcott will arrive with three straight wins.
For whatever reason, it's the away team that's had the advantage when Geneva and Waterloo meet (four straight games heading into this one) and that held true again on Thursday. The Panthers came up short against the Tigers, falling 10-2.
Geneva saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Brandon Santiago, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with one run.
Meanwhile, North Rose-Wolcott sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 4-2 victory over Red Creek on Monday. That's two games straight that the Cougars have won by exactly two runs.
Cody Crane was excellent, going 1-for-2 with two runs and one stolen base. North Rose-Wolcott is undefeated when Crane posts two or more runs, but 3-5 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Evan DeWispelaere, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base and one RBI.
North Rose-Wolcott pushed their record up to 6-5 with the win, which was their fifth straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.6 runs on average over those games. As for Geneva, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-9.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Geneva has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like North Rose-Wolcott struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.9 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Geneva beat North Rose-Wolcott 4-1 in their previous matchup back in May of 2023. Do the Panthers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Cougars turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
