The Coal City Coalers will head out on the road to face off against the Manteno Panthers at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Coal City will be strutting in after a victory while Manteno will be coming in after a loss.
If Coal City beats Manteno with seven runs on Monday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two games with that exact score. Coal City had just enough and edged Reed-Custer out 7-5. The win made it back-to-back victories for Coal City.
Tanner Wallace looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits over four innings pitched.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Wyatt Wickiser, who went 2-for-3 with a home run, three RBI, and a stolen base. The team also got some help courtesy of Danny Olson, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Manteno lost 11-2 to Wilmington on Thursday.
Josh Crane was cooking despite his team's loss, going 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
Coal City has been performing well recently as they've won six of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 15-7 record this season. As for Manteno, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 16-5 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Coal City has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Manteno struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.2. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Coal City skirted past Manteno 2-1 when the teams last played back in April of 2023. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Manteno's Ben Carlile, who didn't allow a single earned run while striking out 12 over 6.2 innings pitched. Now that he won't be playing on Monday, will it be that much easier for Coal City to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
