Baseball Game Preview: Girard Indians vs. Chaney Cowboys

The Girard Indians will challenge the Chaney Cowboys at 1:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Girard has four straight wins, Chaney has four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Girard is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They blew past Springfield 13-3 on Thursday. Considering the Indians have won four contests by more than six runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.

Ja'Den Royal

Runs Batted In (Career)

04/17/25 vs Springfield	3
04/12/25 vs Columbiana	2
04/03/25 vs McDonald	2
04/01/25 vs McKinley	2
03/31/25 @ McKinley	2

Ja'Den Royal was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run over 4.2 innings pitched. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, getting on base in four of his five plate appearances with three runs and three RBI. Those three RBI gave him a new career-high.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Zach Ward, who went 3-for-4 with two runs, two RBI, and one double. That's the most hits he has posted since back in April of 2024. Will Hynes was another key player, going 1-for-3 with three runs, one stolen base, and one double.

Girard kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 17 hits. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 5.2 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 matches they've averaged 11.6.

Meanwhile, Chaney lost a heartbreaker to Leetonia when they met back in April of 2024, and they left with a heavy heart again on Thursday. The Cowboys lost 14-4 to the Bears.

Girard pushed their record up to 8-3 with the victory, which was their fifth straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.4 runs over those games. As for Chaney, their loss dropped their record down to 2-4.