Baseball Game Preview: Unaka Rangers vs. Volunteer Falcons

Unaka hasn't had much luck against Volunteer recently, but that could start to change on Monday. The Rangers will head out on the road to square off against the Falcons at 6:00 p.m. Unaka has given up an average of 12.6 runs per game this season, but Monday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

Unaka's last matchup with Johnson County could've gone either way, but unfortunately the same can't be said for the pair's contest on Thursday. The Rangers lost 12-5 to the Longhorns. The Rangers just can't catch a break and have now endured four defeats in a row.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Volunteer). They were the clear victors by a 15-3 margin over Happy Valley on Friday. The Falcons haven't had any issues with the Warriors recently, as the game was their eighth consecutive victory against them.

Luke Armstrong was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He struck out six batters over five innings while giving up three earned runs off five hits. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in March. He was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two RBI and one run.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Cade Smith, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs, four RBI, and two doubles. Volunteer is undefeated when Smith posts two or more runs, but 4-19 otherwise. Austin Williams was another key player, going a perfect 2-for-2 with three RBI, two runs, and one triple.

Unaka's loss dropped their record down to 5-18. As for Volunteer, their record is now 7-19.

Unaka suffered a grim 24-2 defeat to Volunteer when the teams last played back in March of 2022. Can the Rangers avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.