Baseball Game Preview: Billingsley Bears vs. Verbena Red Devils

For the second straight game, Billingsley will face off against Verbena. The Bears will face off against the Red Devils at 1:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Billingsley has three straight victories, Verbena has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Billingsley is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They were the clear victors by a 17-2 margin over Verbena.

Kyle Boice

Batters Struck Out

04/17/25 vs Verbena	6
04/15/25 vs West Blocton	0
04/10/25 @ Maplesville	4
03/26/25 vs Mountain Home	2
02/27/25 vs Thorsby	13

Tanner Truesdale and Kyle Boice made a big impact no matter where they played. Throwing, Truesdale tossed three innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off three hits. Meanwhile, Boice struck out six batters over two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and not a single walk). That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in February. At bat, Truesdale went a perfect 3-for-3 with three RBI, while Boice went 3-for-4 with three runs, two doubles, and one stolen base. Boice has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Mason Truesdale, who went 2-for-4 with three runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. That's the most runs he has posted since back in March. Eli Manning was another key player, going 2-for-3 with three RBI, two runs, and one stolen base.

Billingsley always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .605. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their OBP total in three consecutive matches.

Billingsley's win was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 20-8. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.6 runs on average over those games. As for Verbena, their loss dropped their record down to 12-14.