Baseball Preview: Bellevue West Thunderbirds vs. Gretna Dragons
Bellevue West has enjoyed the comforts of home their last four games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will square off against the Gretna Dragons at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The last six games Bellevue West has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.
On Monday, Bellevue West faced Lincoln Southwest in a battle between two of the state's top teams. Bellevue West's pitchers stepped up to hand Lincoln Southwest a 1-0 shutout. Despite the win, that was the fewest runs Bellevue West has scored all year.
Bellevue West got a great performance from Brayden Woodard as he didn't allow a single earned run over five innings pitched. Woodard has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Bellevue West's victory was truly a team effort as six different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Nick Glantz, who went 1-for-3 with a double.
Meanwhile, Gretna was able to grind out a solid win over Bellevue East on Friday, taking the game 4-0.
Hudson Schwartzkopf spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just zero earned runs on four hits.
Bellevue West's victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 16-4. Those victories, didn't necessarily come from the team's hitting performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 2.0 runs per game. As for Gretna, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 6-10 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Bellevue West has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.5 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Gretna struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.9. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Bellevue West came out on top in a nail-biter against Gretna in their previous meeting on Thursday, sneaking past 10-8. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Gretna's Bryce Lakers, who went 1-for-4 with a home run and five RBI. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Bellevue West still be able to contain Lakers? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
