Baseball Game Preview: Western Branch Bruins vs. Hickory Hawks

The Western Branch Bruins will take on the Hickory Hawks at 5:45 p.m. on Thursday. Western Branch is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.2 runs per game this season.

Western Branch had to skate by with only a one-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the ten-run drubbing they dealt King's Fork on Tuesday. The Bruins' pitchers stepped up to hand the Bulldogs a 10-0 shutout. Considering the Bruins have won seven games by more than five runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.

Miles Melescu

Batters Struck Out

05/06/25 vs King's Fork	6
05/01/25 @ Grassfield	5
04/24/25 @ Great Bridge	5
04/15/25 @ James Island	4
04/10/25 vs Greenbrier Christian Academy	1
04/03/25 @ Lakeland	11

Miles Melescu looked comfortable as he struck out six batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and only one walk). That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in April.

On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Carter Walter, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with one home run, two stolen bases, and three runs. Those two stolen bases gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Markel Smith, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.

Western Branch always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .586. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as King's Fork only posted an OBP of .062.

Meanwhile, Hickory waltzed into their match on Tuesday with three straight wins... but they left with four. They walked away with a 7-2 victory over the Cavaliers.

Western Branch has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 12-4 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.1 runs over those games. As for Hickory, they pushed their record up to 12-5 with the victory, which was their fifth straight at home.

Western Branch skirted past Hickory 3-2 in their previous matchup back in May of 2024. Do the Bruins have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Hawks turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.