Baseball Preview: Service Cougars vs. Bettye Davis East Anchorage Thunderbirds
Service is 8-0 against Bettye Davis East Anchorage since April of 2016, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Saturday. The Service Cougars will be playing in front of their home fans against the Bettye Davis East Anchorage Thunderbirds at 5:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Service has seven straight victories, Bettye Davis East Anchorage has six straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Service stacked a ninth blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Friday. They never let Eagle River onto the board and left with a 10-0 win. Ten seems to be a good number for Service as the team scooped up a victory with the same number of runs in their previous game.
Rilen Niclai was incredible, going 2-for-2 with a home run, three RBI, and two runs. Coen Niclai was another key contributor, going 2-for-2 with two RBI and a double.
Meanwhile, Bettye Davis East Anchorage faced Dimond in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Monday. Bettye Davis East Anchorage might be feeling deja-vu: they lost 7-5 to Dimond, which was the same score (and result) they got the week prior.
Edison Polanco and Dylan Dumas were huge no matter where they played even without the win. Throwing, Polanco struck out eight batters over three innings while giving up just two earned runs off one hit. Meanwhile, Dumas pitched five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off four hits. Polanco has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one hit in three consecutive pitching appearances. At the plate, Polanco went 3-for-5 with a stolen base and an RBI, while Dumas scored a run and stole two bases while going 2-for-4.
Service pushed their record up to 16-0-1 with that win, which was their third straight at home. As for Bettye Davis East Anchorage, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-9.
Bettye Davis East Anchorage's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Service has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .436. It's a different story for Bettye Davis East Anchorage, though, as they've only averaged .306. Will they be able to contain Service's hitters?
Everything went Service's way against Bettye Davis East Anchorage when the teams last played back in May of 2023 as Service made off with a 19-0 victory. Does Service have another victory up their sleeve, or will Bettye Davis East Anchorage turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
