Baseball Game Preview: Talawanda Brave vs. St. Xavier Bombers

The Talawanda Brave are taking a road trip to challenge the St. Xavier Bombers at 5:00 a.m. on Monday. Talawanda is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.9 runs per game this season.

Talawanda took a loss when they played away from home on Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Saturday. They put the hurt on Madison with a sharp 12-1 win. The victory was some much needed relief for the Brave as it spelled an end to their seven-game losing streak.

Talawanda got a great performance from Jack Stigall as he struck out six batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off five hits (and not a single walk). That's the most strikeouts Stigall has posted since back in April.

Adam Achterman

Stolen Base (Career)

05/10/25 vs Madison	2
05/03/25 @ Lebanon	1
04/22/25 @ Edgewood	1
04/19/25 @ Hamilton	1
04/17/25 @ Northwest	1

At the plate, the team relied heavily on Adam Achterman, who went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, three RBI, and one run. Those two stolen bases gave him a new career-high. Jericho Fletcher was another key player, going 2-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.

Meanwhile, St. Xavier sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 5-3 win over Oak Hills on Saturday.

St. Xavier's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 9-11. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Talawanda, their record now sits at 11-16.

Talawanda came out on top in a nail-biter against St. Xavier in their previous matchup back in April of 2019, sneaking past 1-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Brave since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.