Viola and West Side are an even 5-5 against one another since April of 2021, but likely not for long. The Viola Longhorns will be playing at home against the West Side Eagles at 3:00 p.m. in their first game on Wednesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Viola entered their tilt with Norfork with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They beat the Panthers on Friday by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 11-1.
Meanwhile, West Side had already won 16 in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 9.3 runs), and they went ahead and made it 17 on Friday. They never let the Thunderbirds onto the board and left with a 10-0 victory. That's two games straight that West Side has won by exactly ten runs.
Keegan Towell made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, keeping things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 12 over five innings pitched. Towell has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in six consecutive pitching appearances. Towell was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 2-for-4.
In other batting news, Brooks Hipp was a standout: he scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-3. He is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now stolen at least one in the last five games he's played. Another player making a difference was Dylan Strain, who scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances.
Viola has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 12-4 record this season. As for West Side, their win was their 12th straight at home, which pushed their record up to 17-1.
Viola couldn't quite finish off West Side when the teams last played last Friday and fell 3-1. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of West Side's Jacob Carlton, who didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out 14 over seven innings pitched. Now that Viola knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
