Baseball Game Preview: Ragland Purple Devils vs. Appalachian Eagles

Ragland hasn't had much luck against Appalachian recently, but that could start to change on Tuesday. The Ragland Purple Devils will head out to challenge the Appalachian Eagles at 4:30 p.m. Ragland has given up an average of 13 runs per game this season, so hopefully the team got some pitching drills in this week.

Thursday just wasn't the day for Ragland's offense. They lost 22-0 to Altamont on Thursday. The Purple Devils have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Meanwhile, Appalachian put another one in the bag on Saturday to keep their perfect season alive. They never let Skyline get on the board and left with a 12-0 win. The Eagles might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four contests by six runs or more this season.

Appalachian let Camdyn Moore and Colton Caldwell run wild. Moore scored two runs while going 1-for-2, while Caldwell scored a run while going 2-for-3. The dominant performance also gave Caldwell a new career-high in RBI (two). Another player making a difference was JT Hyde, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3.

Appalachian was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .450. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.

Appalachian pushed their record up to 8-0 with the victory, which was their 13th straight at home dating back to last season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 10.5 runs. As for Ragland, they now have a losing record of 2-3.

Ragland suffered a grim 17-7 defeat to Appalachian in their previous matchup back in April of 2024. Can Ragland avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.