The South Ripley Raiders will venture away from home to take on the South Decatur Cougars at 5:00 p.m. on Friday.
South Ripley managed to slip by Switzerland County the last time these teams faced off, but didn't have those same answers this time around. The Raiders lost 7-0 to the Pacers on Tuesday. The contest marked the first time this year in which the Raiders were not able to get on the board.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask South Decatur). Everything went their way against Morristown on Thursday as they made off with an 18-10 win. With that victory, the Cougars brought their scoring average up to 6.3 runs per game.
Grady Scudder made a splash while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing six innings while giving up five earned (and five unearned) runs off seven hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (four). He was even better at the plate, going 3-for-5 with five stolen bases, three runs, and four RBI. South Decatur is undefeated when Scudder posts two or more runs, but 2-6 otherwise.
In other batting news, South Decatur let Corey Nugent and Toby Bishop run wild. Nugent went 2-for-4 with four runs, two stolen bases, and two doubles, while Bishop got on base in three of his five plate appearances with three stolen bases, three runs, and two RBI. Nugent has become a key player for South Decatur: the team is 3-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 2-5 otherwise. Another player making a difference was JP Scudder, who went 1-for-5 with two stolen bases, three RBI, and one run.
South Decatur was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .395. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.
The win made it two in a row for South Decatur and bumps their season record up to 5-6. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 13.5 runs over those games. As for South Ripley, their loss dropped their record down to 4-4.
South Ripley might still be hurting after the 16-0 defeat they got from South Decatur when the teams last played back in May of 2022. Can the Raiders avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
