The Riverside Beavers will head out on the road to square off against the Avon Eagles at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Riverside will be looking to extend their current four-game winning streak.
Riverside's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They were the clear victors by a 21-0 margin over Brush. The Beavers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven games by six runs or more this season.
Ryan Higginbotham
| 05/13/25 @ Brush | 4 |
| 05/09/25 @ Cleveland Heights | 1 |
| 04/10/25 @ St. Edward | 1 |
| 04/01/25 @ Brunswick | 1 |
Ryan Higginbotham looked comfortable as he pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (four).
On the hitting side, Austin Wittreich was incredible, going 3-for-4 with four runs, two stolen bases, and three RBI. He is becoming a predictor of Riverside's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 7-1 (and 6-7 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Spencer Short, who went 3-for-4 with three RBI, one stolen base, and one run.
Riverside always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .652. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, Avon fought the good fight in their extra-innings contest against Avon Lake on Tuesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Shoremen by a score of 4-2. Eagles fans who chose to attend the game sure picked the wrong one: it was the first time the team's lost against the Shoremen since on Tuesday.
Jensen Petro was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he tossed five innings while giving up just two earned runs off one hit. He has been consistent for a while: he hasn't given up more than two hits any time he's pitched this season.
At the plate, Robby Sykora made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and got on base in all four of his plate appearances with one RBI.
This is the second loss in a row for Avon and nudges their season record down to 8-12. Even worse, they were so close both times: the defeats came by an average of only 1.5 runs. As for Riverside, their record now sits at 13-8.
Avon's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Riverside hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .334. It's a different story for Avon, though, as they've only averaged .231. Will they be able to contain Riverside's hitters?
Riverside beat Avon 3-0 when the teams last played back in April of 2023. Do the Beavers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Eagles turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
