After both having extra time off, the Manchester Lancers and the Clover Hill Cavaliers will shake off the rust and duke it out at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty run totals in their previous games.
Clover Hill will be up against a hot Manchester team: the squad just extended their winning streak to three. The Lancers put the hurt on Powhatan with a sharp 10-2 victory last Thursday. With that win, the Lancers brought their scoring average up to 6.8 runs per game.
Kelton Taylor
| 03/27/25 vs Powhatan | 1 |
| 03/21/25 @ Glen Allen | 1 |
| 03/18/25 @ James River Midlothian | 0 |
Kelton Taylor tossed a big game, striking out eight batters over five innings while giving up just two earned runs off seven hits (and only one walk). He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one walk in three consecutive appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Easton Butts, who went 2-for-3 with one home run and two RBI. Landon Anderson also deserves some recognition as he got his first hits of the season.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Clover Hill). They blew past J.R. Tucker 16-1 last Thursday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Cavaliers.
Noah Putney made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out seven over five innings pitched. Putney was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-2.
In other batting news, Clover Hill got a massive performance out of Carter Burcume, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with two stolen bases, three runs, and four RBI. Those three runs gave Burcume a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Blake Spence, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with four RBI, two runs, and one double.
Clover Hill always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .657. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as J.R. Tucker only posted an OBP of .111.
Manchester's victory was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 3-2. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for Clover Hill, their record now sits at 3-1.
Manchester suffered a grim 10-4 defeat to Clover Hill in their previous matchup back in May of 2024. Can the Lancers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
