Baseball Game Preview: Watertown Purple Tigers vs. Monterey Wildcats

The Watertown Purple Tigers will challenge the Monterey Wildcats at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Watertown will be strutting in after a victory while Monterey will be coming in after a defeat.

On Monday, Watertown made easy work of Jackson County and carried off a 14-1 win. Considering the Purple Tigers have won seven contests by more than five runs this season, Monday's blowout was nothing new.

Luke Vance looked comfortable as he tossed two innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit.

Garrett Davis

Runs (Career)

04/14/25 vs Jackson County	3
04/04/25 @ Cannon County	2
04/10/25 @ Upperman	1
04/02/25 @ Smith County	1
03/14/25 @ Seymour	1

On the hitting side, Shaun Potter and Garrett Davis did most of the damage at the plate: Potter got on base in all four of his plate appearances with three RBI, one triple, and one stolen base, while Davis scored three runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-4. Those three runs gave Davis a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Avery Davis, who scored two runs and stole three bases while going 2-for-2.

Watertown always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .571. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Jackson County only posted an OBP of .250.

Meanwhile, after soaring to ten runs the game before, Monterey was a bit more limited in their matchup on Monday. They fell just short of York Institute by a score of 3-2. Wildcats fans who chose to attend the game sure picked the wrong one: it was the first time the team's lost against the Dragons since on Monday.

Dylan Whitehead put in work while hitting and pitching. He struck out 12 batters over 6.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off five hits. He is becoming a predictor of Monterey's success: when he posts at least eight strikeouts the team is 3-1 (and 5-9 when he doesn't). Whitehead was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 2-for-4.

The victory made it two in a row for Watertown and bumps their season record up to 17-1. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered a grand total of 2 run in those games. As for Monterey, their loss dropped their record down to 8-10.

Watertown skirted past Monterey 5-3 in their previous matchup back in March. Will the Purple Tigers repeat their success, or do the Wildcats have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.