Baseball Game Preview: Mountain Heritage Cougars vs. Avery County Vikings

For the second straight game, Mountain Heritage will face off against Avery County. The Cougars will be playing at home against the Vikings at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Mountain Heritage is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8 runs per game this season.

Mountain Heritage's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They were the clear victors by a 15-0 margin over Avery County.

Caden Carrol made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit over five innings pitched. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in four consecutive appearances. He was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring three runs and stealing two bases while going 2-for-4. He has become a key player for Mountain Heritage: the team is 4-2 when he posts at least two runs, but 2-8 otherwise.

Cason Jones

Hits (Career)

04/15/25 @ Avery County	4
03/10/25 vs North Buncombe	3
04/08/25 @ Rosman	2
04/01/25 vs Mitchell	2
03/27/25 @ Polk County	2

In other batting news, Cason Jones was incredible, going 4-for-5 with one home run, five RBI, and three runs. Those four hits gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Branson Fox, who scored a run while going 3-for-3.

Mountain Heritage kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 21 hits. They are a perfect 6-0 when they post 11 or more hits.

Mountain Heritage is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests. That's provided a massive bump to their 6-10 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 17.8 runs over those games. As for Avery County, they are on a three-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 3-11.

Mountain Heritage's speedy runners might be the difference in Thursday's game. The Cougars have been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 2.9 stolen bases per game. It's a different story for Avery County, though, as they've been averaging only 0.9 stolen bases. Will they be able to secure the bases, or will Mountain Heritage continue to outrun the ball? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.