Baseball Game Preview: Aliceville Yellowjackets vs. Pickens Academy Pirates

The Aliceville Yellowjackets will venture away from home to square off against the Pickens Academy Pirates at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Aliceville has given up an average of 10 runs per game this season, so hopefully the team got some pitching drills in this week.

Aliceville lost 17-5 to Pickens Academy on Monday.

For Pickens Academy's part, Braden Banks made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out ten batters over 3.2 innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. Those ten strikeouts gave Banks a new career-high. He was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs while getting on base in two of his five plate appearances. He has become a key player for Pickens Academy: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 1-7 otherwise.

In other batting news, Pickens Academy let Hudson Pennington and Ace Gregory run wild. Pennington scored three runs and stole Three bases. while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances, while Gregory went 2-for-5 with four runs, one triple, and two RBI. The dominant performance gave Pennington a new career-high in runs. Reece Burroughs also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.

Pickens Academy always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .523. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.

Aliceville's loss ended a ten-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 3-4. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.4 runs on average over those games. As for Pickens Academy, they have traveled a rocky road recently, having lost five of their last six games. That's put a noticeable dent in their 6-8 record this season.