Baseball Game Preview: PikeView Panthers vs. Bluefield Beavers

The PikeView Panthers will head out on the road to face off against the Bluefield Beavers at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. PikeView will be looking to extend their current three-game winning streak.

PikeView had to skate by with only a one-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the ten-run drubbing they dealt Castlewood on Saturday. PikeView was the clear victor by a 10-0 margin over Castlewood. The Panthers not only won on Saturday, but they posted their biggest win since May 9, 2024.

Castlewood's batters probably weren't too happy with Eli Hilling, who pitched a no hitter and racked up 16 Ks (he gave up zero walks). Hilling has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up a single hit in three consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Braden Huggins was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in RBI (two). Trenton Tolliver also deserves some recognition as he scored his first run of the season.

Meanwhile, Bluefield came up short against Princeton on Wednesday, falling 19-5.

Bluefield saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Chris Mills, who scored a run while going 2-for-3. Another was Isiah Mitchell, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances.

PikeView's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 3-1. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Bluefield, their loss dropped their record down to 0-2.

PikeView was able to grind out a solid victory over Bluefield when the teams last played back in May of 2024, winning 6-3. The rematch might be a little tougher for PikeView since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.