The Preston Indians will be playing at home against the Sugar-Salem Diggers at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Preston is coming into the contest on a three-game losing streak.
Last Wednesday, Preston came up short against Madison and fell 7-3.
Eli Hammons was cooking despite his team's loss, going 2-for-3 with two runs and a triple. Austin Gleed was another key contributor, going 2-for-4 with two doubles.
Even though they lost, Preston didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with 12 strikeouts. That's the most strikeouts they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, everything went Sugar-Salem's way against Jerome on Tuesday as Sugar-Salem made off with a 7-1 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for Sugar-Salem.
Carson Harris was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (he also only allowed one walk). Harris was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with a stolen base and an RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Dawson McInelly, who scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Tate Cutler, who scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances.
Preston's defeat dropped their record down to 1-5. As for Sugar-Salem, their win bumped their record up to 6-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Saturday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Preston has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Sugar-Salem struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.6. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Preston was able to grind out a solid victory over Sugar-Salem in their previous matchup back in April of 2018, winning 5-1. Will Preston repeat their success, or does Sugar-Salem have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps