Baseball Preview: Switzerland County Pacers vs. South Ripley Raiders
Switzerland County and South Ripley are an even 5-5 against one another since May of 2018, but likely not for long. The Switzerland County Pacers will head out on the road to square off against the South Ripley Raiders at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Switzerland County has three straight victories, South Ripley has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Switzerland County's pitching crew heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Monday. They were the clear victor by a 15-0 margin over Shawe Memorial. With that win, Switzerland County brought their scoring average up to 6.6 runs per game.
Zayne Smith made a big impact no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and only one hit while striking out eight over five innings pitched. Smith has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive pitching appearances. Smith was also solid in the batter's box, going 4-for-4 with two RBI and a double.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Jackson Sparks, who went 3-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and a triple. Another player making a difference was Peyton Turner, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, South Ripley came up short against Rushville on Saturday and fell 10-7.
Switzerland County's victory bumped their record up to 8-6. As for South Ripley, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-8.
Switzerland County came out on top in a nail-biter against South Ripley in their previous meeting on Friday, sneaking past 3-2. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was South Ripley's Mason McNew, who struck out nine batters over six innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off three hits (and not a single walk). Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Switzerland County still be able to contain McNew? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
