The Salem Lions will square off against the Springs Valley Blackhawks at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Salem's pitching crew has only allowed 3.8 runs per game this season, so Springs Valley's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Salem will bounce into Wednesday's game after beating Brownstown Central, who they had gone 2-7 against in their nine prior meetings. The Lions came out on top against the Braves by a score of 8-3 on Monday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Lions.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Springs Valley). Everything went their way against Wood Memorial on Monday as they made off with a 15-2 victory. The Blackhawks haven't had any issues with the Trojans recently, as the game was their ninth consecutive win against them.
Braylon Kovas and Hunter Thomas made a splash while hitting and pitching. Throwing, Kovas tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Meanwhile, Thomas struck out seven batters over three innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit (and not a single walk). He has become a key player for Springs Valley: the team is undefeated when he allows at most one hit, but 1-2 otherwise. At the plate, Kovas went 2-for-4 with two runs, one double, and one RBI, while Thomas went a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run and five RBI. Those five RBI gave Thomas a new career-high.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Noah Allstott, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. That's the most hits he has posted since back in May of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Blake Buchanan, who went 1-for-2 with three runs, one stolen base, and one double.
Springs Valley was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .480. They are a perfect 3-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Springs Valley's victory was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 4-2. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.2 runs on average over those games. As for Salem, their victory was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-2 and their overall record up to 5-3-1.
Salem might still be hurting after the 15-7 defeat they got from Springs Valley in their previous matchup back in April of 2024. Will the Lions have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
