Baseball Game Preview: Rehobeth Rebels vs. Russell County Warriors

The Rehobeth Rebels will venture away from home to challenge the Russell County Warriors at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Rehobeth is coming into the contest hot, having won their last five games.

Rehobeth proved they can win big on Wednesday (they won by eight) and on Wednesday they proved they can win the close ones too. They never let Bradford get on the board and left with a 1-0 win.

Meanwhile, Russell County won against Park Crossing on Tuesday with 21 runs and they decided to stick to that run total again on Thursday. Russell County blew past Park Crossing 21-7. The result was nothing new for the Warriors, who have now won six games by six runs or more so far this season.

Shane Otipoby and Colton Armstrong were a major factor no matter where they played. Throwing, Otipoby struck out six batters over four innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off four hits. Meanwhile, Armstrong pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off three hits. Otipoby has been consistent : he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in five consecutive appearances. At bat, Otipoby scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in four of his six plate appearances, while Armstrong scored two runs while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. Armstrong has become a key player for Russell County: the team is 3-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 6-9 otherwise.

In other batting news, Jayden Bennett was a standout: he scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances. He is becoming a predictor of Russell County's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 6-10 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Cameron Brewer, who scored three runs while going 2-for-4.

Russell County always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .565. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Park Crossing only posted an OBP of .417.

Russell County pushed their record up to 9-10 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Rehobeth, their record is now 13-7.