The Hanover Central Wildcats will head out on the road to face off against the Lake Central Indians at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. The last four games Hanover Central has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.
Hanover Central is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another highly-ranked state team: St. Laurence, who was ranked seventh at the time (Hanover Central was ranked 14th). Hanover Central fell just short of St. Laurence by a score of 7-5 last Friday.
Meanwhile, Lake Central put the finishing touches on their tenth blowout victory of the season on Saturday. They were the clear victor by an 11-1 margin over NorthWood. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Lake Central.
Grant Mercer looked comfortable as he struck out six batters over four innings while giving up just one earned run off five hits (and only one walk). He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in six consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Lake Central let Drew Kosteba and Victor Villegas loose on the outfield. Kosteba scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances, while Villegas scored two runs while going 2-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Ryder Fernandez, who scored three runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Hanover Central's loss ended a nine-game streak of away wins and brought them to 18-3. As for Lake Central, they are on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last ten matches, which provided a nice bump to their 18-9 record this season.
Hanover Central suffered a grim 10-0 defeat to Lake Central in their previous matchup back in May of 2022. Can Hanover Central avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
