Baseball Game Preview: Oak Ridge Wildcats vs. Hardin Valley Academy Hawks

The Oak Ridge Wildcats will take on the Hardin Valley Academy Hawks at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Hardin Valley Academy took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on Oak Ridge, who comes in off a win.

On Thursday, Oak Ridge made easy work of Clinton and carried off a 14-4 win. The result was nothing new for the Wildcats, who have now won 15 contests by eight runs or more so far this season.

Kam Welch made a big impact no matter where he played. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out eight over four innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, getting on base in all three of his plate appearances with one double and one RBI.

In other batting news, Oak Ridge got a massive performance out of Richie Ferreira, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with one home run and three runs. That's the most runs Ferreira has posted since April 1st. Another player making a difference was Kip Feagan, who earned one RBI, three runs, and three stolen bases.

Meanwhile, Hardin Valley Academy didn't have quite enough to beat West on Wednesday and fell 4-3. That's two games in a row now that the Hawks have lost by just one run.

Oak Ridge has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 15 of their last 17 games. That's provided a nice bump to their 26-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.5 runs over those games. As for Hardin Valley Academy, their defeat was their third straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 18-9-1.

Oak Ridge came out on top in a nail-biter against Hardin Valley Academy in their previous matchup two weeks ago, sneaking past 4-3. Will the Wildcats repeat their success, or do the Hawks have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.