Baseball Game Preview: Dirigo Cougars vs. Maranacook Black Bears

The Dirigo Cougars will challenge the Maranacook Black Bears at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Dirigo is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They walked away with a 6-3 win over Winthrop.

Trevor Crosby and Hudson Lufkin made a splash while hitting and pitching. Throwing, Crosby struck out six batters over 4.2 innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off six hits. Meanwhile, Lufkin pitched 2.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. He also tossed a walk, which is notable because Dirigo is undefeated when he allows at most one walk, but 5-9 otherwise. At the plate, Crosby got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs and one RBI, while Lufkin got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs.

They weren't the only ones making solid contact as three players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Kaeden Swan, who went 1-for-4 with two RBI. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in May.

Meanwhile, Maranacook waltzed into their game last Tuesday with seven straight wins... but they left with eight. They came out on top in a nail-biter against the Greyhounds, sneaking past 3-1.

Austin Tibbetts looked comfortable as he tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits.

Maranacook pushed their record up to 11-5 with the victory, which was their fifth straight on the road. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.2 runs on average over those games. As for Dirigo, their victory bumped their record up to 8-9.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Dirigo has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Maranacook struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.6 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other baseball content.