Baseball Game Preview: Buford Yellow Jackets vs. Cheraw Braves

Buford has won four straight games at home, while Cheraw has won four straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Tuesday. Buford will host Cheraw at 6:30 p.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Buford 3.1, Cheraw 2.8) so any runs scored will be well earned.

While Buford's win against Chesterfield wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. Buford narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past Chesterfield 3-1. The win continues a trend for the Yellow Jackets in their matchups with the Golden Rams: they've now won six in a row.

Buford's victory was truly a team effort as six different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Jayden Mckenzie, who went 2-for-4 with one stolen base and one RBI.

Buford hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now struck out at most five strikeouts in four consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, Cheraw got themselves on the board against Darlington on Monday, but Darlington never followed suit. They were the clear victors by a 12-0 margin over the Falcons. Considering the Braves have won four games by more than eight runs this season, Monday's blowout was nothing new.

The team relied heavily on Brayden Michael, who scored three runs and stole three bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. That's the most stolen bases he has posted since back in March of 2024. Kaden Johnson was another key player, scoring a run while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances.

Cheraw's win bumped their record up to 7-2. As for Buford, their victory bumped their record up to 8-1.

Buford came out on top in a nail-biter against Cheraw in their previous matchup back in April of 2024, sneaking past 4-3. Will Buford repeat their success, or does Cheraw has a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.