The Loretto Mustangs will challenge the Coffee County Central Red Raiders at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Loretto has struggled recently with four losses in a row, while Coffee County Central will arrive with three straight wins.
On Monday, Loretto didn't have quite enough to beat Mars Hill Bible and fell 6-4.
Loretto saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Grant Fisher, who went 1-for-4 with one RBI. That RBI marked the first that Fisher brought in this season.
Meanwhile, Coffee County Central sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 6-5 victory over Rockvale on Tuesday. That's two games straight that the Red Raiders have won by just one run.
Isaiah Deadman tossed a big game, striking out seven batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off four hits. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in strikeouts.
At the plate, Colter Neel was excellent, going 2-for-4 with one home run and two RBI. That's the most hits he has posted since back in April of 2024. Cole Pippenger was another key player, scoring a run while going 1-for-3.
Coffee County Central pushed their record up to 5-3 with the win, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Loretto, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Loretto has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Coffee County Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.6 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Loretto came up short against Coffee County Central in their previous meeting back in April of 2021, falling 4-1. Can Loretto avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
