The Whitley County Colonels will challenge the Harlan County Black Bears at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Whitley County has three straight wins, Harlan County has seven straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Harlan County's hitters are going to have their work cut out for them on Thursday: Whitley County hadn't allowed a single run the last three times they've hit the field. The Colonels never let Williamsburg get on the board and left with a 16-0 victory on Wednesday. Considering the Colonels have won 11 contests by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Clint Partin
| 04/30/25 vs Williamsburg | 6 |
| 04/12/25 vs Anderson County | 3 |
| 04/07/25 vs Harlan | 2 |
| 03/08/25 @ Somerset | 2 |
Clint Partin looked comfortable as he struck out six batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (and not a single walk). Those six strikeouts gave him a new career-high.
At the plate, Whitley County let Henry Bowling and RJ Osborne run wild. Bowling went a perfect 1-for-1 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI, while Osborne went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one stolen base, and one double. Those two stolen bases gave Bowling a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Jason Nunley, who went 1-for-2 with two RBI, one run, and one double.
Whitley County kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 13 hits. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Williamsburg only managed one hit.
Harlan hit Harlan County with a five-run third inning on Tuesday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Black Bears took an 8-3 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Green Dragons. Black Bears fans who chose to attend the game sure picked the wrong one: it was the first time the team's lost against the Green Dragons since on Tuesday.
Harlan County saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jesse Gilbert, who went 1-for-2 with two runs.
Whitley County's win was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 22-4. The home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.9 runs over those games. As for Harlan County, their loss dropped their record down to 5-13-1.
Harlan County's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Whitley County has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .437. It's a different story for Harlan County, though, as they've only averaged .339. Will they be able to contain Whitley County's hitters?
Whitley County took their win against Harlan County when the teams last played back in March of 2024 by a conclusive 16-1 score. Will the Colonels repeat their success, or do the Black Bears have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
