vs
| 04/06/24 - Away | 8-5 W |
| 04/08/23 - Home | 13-1 W |
| 04/08/23 - Home | 12-2 W |
| 04/05/22 - Home | 10-3 W |
Palatine has gone a perfect 4-0 against Niles North recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Wednesday. The Pirates will be playing at home against the Vikings at 4:45 p.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Palatine 3.9, Niles North 3.9) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Palatine's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They came out on top against Highland Park by a score of 4-0. While the Pirates didn't have the best season last year (they finished 14-19), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.
Carter Monroe was excellent, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-2. He also put up a double, which was his first of the season.
Meanwhile, Niles North unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak on Saturday. They fell just short of Ogden International by a score of 4-3.
Niles North also got a good showing from Levi Schueneman, who pitched four innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits.
On the hitting side, Mickey Davito 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 double and one RBI. Another player making a difference was Esteban Rodriguez, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base and one RBI.
Palatine has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 7-3 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.0 runs on average over those games. As for Niles North, their loss dropped their record down to 5-4-1.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Wednesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Palatine has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.6 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Niles North struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 7.9 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Palatine beat Niles North 8-5 in their previous matchup back in April of 2024. Will the Pirates repeat their success, or do the Vikings have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
