Baseball Game Preview: Talawanda Brave vs. Monroe Hornets

The Talawanda Brave are taking a road trip to square off against the Monroe Hornets at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. Talawanda is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.5 runs per game this season.

Talawanda will roll into the match after a wild two-game stretch: they didn't score any runs on Thursday, then bounced right back against Northwest on Friday. The Brave were the clear victors by a 14-4 margin over the Knights. The result was nothing new for the Brave, who have now won three games by nine runs or more so far this season.

Austin Puckett

Base on Balls Against

04/11/25 @ Northwest	1
04/03/25 vs Larue County	0
03/22/25 @ Bishop Fenwick	1

Austin Puckett looked comfortable as he tossed 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one walk in three consecutive appearances.

At the plate, Hunter Griffin was incredible, going 3-for-4 with two stolen bases, five RBI, and one run. The team also got some help courtesy of Connor Sayler, who scored a run and stole two bases while going 2-for-4.

Meanwhile, Monroe was able to grind out a solid victory over Franklin on Friday, taking the game 9-6. That's two games straight that the Hornets have won by exactly three runs.

The win made it two in a row for Monroe and bumps their season record up to 2-1. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered a grand total of 6 runs in those games. As for Talawanda, their win ended a nine-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 3-7.

Talawanda suffered a grim 13-3 defeat to Monroe in their previous matchup back in April of 2024. Can the Brave avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.