The Thomas Jefferson Spartans will square off against the Denver South Ravens at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Thomas Jefferson has given up an average of 10.4 runs per game this season, but Saturday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.
Pueblo East hit Thomas Jefferson with a four-run third inning on Friday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Spartans came up short against the Eagles, falling 11-1.
Thomas Jefferson saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Max Feierstein, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with one stolen base.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Denver South). They never let Overland get on the board and left with a 24-0 win on Wednesday. The Ravens might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five matches by ten runs or more this season.
Dylan Coppock was a standout: he went 4-for-5 with four runs, two stolen bases, and four RBI. He is becoming a predictor of Denver South's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 4-5 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was VJ Valdez, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with four runs, two stolen bases, and three RBI.
Denver South always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .675. The last time their OBP was this high was back in May of 2024.
Denver South is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games. That's provided a nice bump to their 9-5 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.5 runs over those games. As for Thomas Jefferson, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-12.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Saturday as neither team is afraid to steal. Thomas Jefferson has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Denver South struggles in that department as they've been averaging 3.6 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Thomas Jefferson couldn't quite finish off Denver South in their previous meeting back in May of 2024 and fell 4-2. Can the Spartans avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
