Baseball Game Preview: Stringer Red Devils vs. Taylorsville Tartars

For the second straight game, Stringer will face off against Taylorsville. The Red Devils will head out to face off against the Tartars at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.

Things were looking good for Stringer after they put the first runs on the board on Tuesday, but unfortunately for them things went downhill from there. They fell just short of Taylorsville by a score of 6-5. The Red Devils haven't had much luck with the Tartars recently, as the team has come up short the last three times they've met.

For Taylorsville's part, Ford Matthews made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out eight batters over seven innings while giving up just two earned (and three unearned) runs off three hits. That's the most strikeouts Matthews has posted since back in February. He was also big at the plate, firing off two home runs and three runs while going 2-for-5. He is becoming a predictor of Taylorsville's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 6-1 (and 7-11 when he doesn't).

In other batting news, Trey Barnes was excellent, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-3. Taylorsville is 7-1 when Barnes posts two or more runs, but 6-11 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Ty Blakeney, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base and one RBI.

Taylorsville lost a few balls and finished the game with two home runs. That's the most home runs they've managed all season.

Taylorsville has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games. That's provided a nice bump to their 13-12 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.7 runs on average over those games. As for Stringer, their defeat was their first in the district, dropping their district record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 6-15.