Baseball Game Preview: West Carteret Patriots vs. Richlands Wildcats

West Carteret is 9-1 against Richlands since March of 2016 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Thursday. The Patriots will head out to face off against the Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. West Carteret will be strutting in after a win while Richlands will be coming in after a defeat.

Last Tuesday, West Carteret earned a 6-3 victory over White Oak.

Lincoln Strump

Stolen Base

04/01/25 vs White Oak	3
03/25/25 @ Croatan	2
02/24/25 @ Jacksonville	2
03/21/25 vs Dixon	1
03/06/25 @ Hoggard	1

The team relied heavily on Lincoln Strump, who scored a run and stole three bases while going 2-for-2. He has become a key player for West Carteret: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two stolen bases, but 3-5 otherwise. Landon Quillen also deserves some recognition as he scored his first run of the season.

West Carteret hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as White Oak struck out 12 times.

Meanwhile, Richlands fell victim to Croatan and their airtight pitching crew on Tuesday. They came up short against the Cougars, falling 6-0. The Wildcats haven't had much luck with the Cougars recently, as the team has come up short the last nine times they've met.

West Carteret has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matchups. That's provided a massive bump to their 6-5 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 4.0 runs on average over those games. As for Richlands, they now have a losing record of 5-6.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. West Carteret has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Richlands struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 7.3 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.

West Carteret beat Richlands 10-6 in their previous meeting back in May of 2024. Will the Patriots repeat their success, or do the Wildcats have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.