Baseball Game Preview: Upper Scioto Valley Rams vs. Bluffton Pirates

The Upper Scioto Valley Rams will face off against the Bluffton Pirates at 5:15 p.m. on Friday. Upper Scioto Valley will aim to continue their three-game streak of scoring more runs each game than the last.

Upper Scioto Valley is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They were the clear victors by an 18-9 margin over Arlington on Thursday.

Jesse Prater

Runs

05/07/26 vs Arlington	3
04/20/26 vs Temple Christian	3
05/06/26 vs Waynesfield-Goshen	2
05/02/26 vs Pandora-Gilboa	2
05/04/26 @ Cory-Rawson	1
+ 3 more games

The team relied heavily on Jesse Prater, who went 3-for-4 with one home run, five RBI, and three runs. He has become a key player for Upper Scioto Valley: the team is 3-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 3-9 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Macain Underwood, who got on base in four of his five plate appearances with two stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI.

They weren't the only ones making solid contact: Upper Scioto Valley kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 15 hits. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 5.4 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 contests they've averaged 10.2.

Meanwhile, Bluffton lost 11-1 to Columbus Grove on Thursday. The Pirates have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Bluffton's loss dropped their record down to 2-9-1. As for Upper Scioto Valley, their win bumped their record up to 6-10.

Upper Scioto Valley couldn't quite finish off Bluffton in their previous meeting back in April of 2022 and fell 4-2. Can the Rams avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.