Baseball Game Preview: Bigfork Vikings & Valkyries vs. Browning Indians

The Bigfork Vikings & Valkyries will take on the Browning Indians at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Bigfork has four straight wins, Browning has 20 straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Bigfork is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Montana's top teams: Polson, who was ranked 13th at the time (Bigfork was ranked ninth). The Vikings & Valkyries had just enough and edged out the Pirates 7-6 on Tuesday.

Ryeln Rodriguez

Runs

04/12/25 @ Browning	3
04/29/25 @ Polson	2
04/24/25 vs Ronan	2
04/17/25 vs Troy	2
04/22/25 vs Whitefish	1
+ 1 more games

The team relied heavily on Ryeln Rodriguez, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with four stolen bases and two runs. Bigfork is undefeated when Rodriguez posts two or more runs, but 2-3 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Sam Plummer, who went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Browning fell victim to Lincoln County and their airtight pitching crew on Monday. They came up short against the Lions, falling 20-0.

Bigfork pushed their record up to 6-3 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Browning, their loss dropped their record down to 0-6.

Bigfork's speedy runners might be the difference in Thursday's match. The Vikings & Valkyries have been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 6.1 stolen bases per game. It's a different story for Browning, though, as they've been averaging only 1 stolen bases. Will they be able to secure the bases, or will Bigfork continue to outrun the ball?

Bigfork took their victory against Browning when the teams last played back in April by a conclusive 31-1 score. Will the Vikings & Valkyries repeat their success, or do the Indians have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.