Baseball Game Preview: Jefferson Cougars vs. East Hardy Cougars

Jefferson will head out to face off against East Hardy at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Jefferson's pitching crew has only allowed two runs per game this season, so East Hardy's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

Jefferson made up a huge gap compared to their last game against Hedgesville, but they still couldn't quite topple them. The Cougars fell just short of the Eagles by a score of 4-2 on Saturday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest loss the Cougars have suffered since May 1st.

Alex Danner

Base on Balls Against

05/31/25 vs Hedgesville	1
05/30/25 @ Hedgesville	1
05/19/25 vs Martinsburg	0
05/10/25 @ Pendleton County	2
05/01/25 vs Martinsburg	2

Jefferson got a good showing from Alex Danner, who struck out seven batters over 3.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (and only one walk). Danner has been consistent: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive appearances.

At the plate, Jefferson saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Andrew Rolfe, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI. Those RBI marked the first that Rolfe has brought in this season.

Meanwhile, East Hardy waltzed into their matchup on Wednesday with three straight wins... but they left with four. They had just enough and edged out the Bulldogs 8-6. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Cougars have posted against the Bulldogs since May 7, 2021.

East Hardy's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 12-15. The home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.0 runs over those games. As for Jefferson, their defeat ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 28-5-1.

Jefferson took their win against East Hardy when the teams last played back in May of 2016 by a conclusive 9-0 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for Jefferson since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.