Baseball Recap: Ashton-Franklin Center Comes Up Short

Ashton-Franklin Center fought the good fight in their extra-innings match against Polo on Tuesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Marcos by a score of 10-9. Surprisingly, this marked the Raiders' fourth straight game in which the away team has come away the victor.

Caleb Thomas

Earned Runs

04/15/25 @ Eastland	5
04/19/25 @ Stillman Valley	4
03/17/25 vs Forreston	3

Caleb Thomas and Nolan Rueff put in work no matter where they played. Throwing, Thomas tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Meanwhile, Rueff pitched six innings while giving up three earned (and three unearned) runs off five hits. Thomas also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Ashton-Franklin Center is 6-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 6-7 otherwise. At bat, Thomas went 2-for-5 with one triple, one stolen base, and one run, while Rueff went 2-for-5 with one run, one double, and one RBI. Thomas is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged at least one in each of the last three games he's played.

In other batting news, Logan O'Brien was cooking despite his team's loss, going a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. He is becoming a predictor of Ashton-Franklin Center's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 7-1 (and 5-7 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Barrett Becker, who went 1-for-4 with three RBI and one double.

With the loss, Ashton-Franklin Center broke their three-game winning streak and moved their record to 12-8. As for Polo, their victory was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-4 and their overall record up to 3-11.

Looking ahead, Ashton-Franklin Center will square off against Annawan-Wethersfield at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Polo will be paying especially close attention to the Raiders' game: after the Raiders face off against the Titans, they'll take on Polo again at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.