The Norwood Pirates will challenge the Sparta Trojans at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Norwood's pitching crew has only allowed 4.1 runs per game this season, so Sparta's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Norwood's usually-dominant pitching crew will be looking to make up for Monday's struggle, when Seymour hitters got past them. The Pirates fell 10-5 to the Tigers on Monday.
Norwood saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Gary Williams, who went 1-for-3 with one home run. That home run marked the first that Williams has launched this season.
Meanwhile, Sparta entered their tilt with Greenwood on Thursday with two consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with three. They put the hurt on the Blue Jays with a sharp 17-4 win. The Trojans might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four matchups by 12 runs or more this season.
Ben Miller was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out ten batters over five innings while giving up three earned (and one unearned) runs off only two hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in four consecutive appearances. He was also stellar in the batter's box, going a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, two stolen bases, and five RBI. What's more, he posted three runs, the most he's had since back in March.
In other batting news, Sparta got a massive performance out of Braylen Luttrull, who went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, two RBI, and one run. Luttrull has been hot for a while, having posted at least one stolen base the last nine times he's played. Layne Rains was another key player, going 2-for-3 with two RBI, one run, and one double.
Sparta was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .522. They are a perfect 3-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Sparta's victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-5. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.0 runs over those games. As for Norwood, their loss dropped their record down to 9-3.
Norwood was able to grind out a solid victory over Sparta when the teams last played back in May of 2024, winning 5-0. Do the Pirates have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Trojans turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
