Baseball Game Preview: Riverdale Rams vs. Orion Chargers

Riverdale and Orion are an even 5-5 against one another since May of 2019, but likely not for long. The Rams will challenge the Chargers at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Riverdale fought the good fight in their extra-innings match against Bureau Valley on Tuesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Storm by a score of 7-6.

Colton Huffman put in work while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out nine batters over 7.1 innings while giving up five earned (and one unearned) runs off ten hits. Huffman was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in two of his five plate appearances with one stolen base and one run.

Austin Nadolson

Stolen Base

04/22/25 vs Bureau Valley	3
04/21/25 vs Orion	1
04/19/25 @ Mendota	1

In other batting news, Austin Nadolson made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and got on base in four of his six plate appearances with three stolen bases and two runs. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played. Jackson Fritch also deserves some recognition as he hit his first double of the season.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Orion, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Monday. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past ROWVA/Williamsfield 10-8. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Chargers have posted since April 1st.

Orion is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games. That's provided a nice bump to their 11-7 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.8 runs over those games. As for Riverdale, they have been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four contests. That's put a noticeable dent in their 6-9 record this season.

Everything went Riverdale's way against Orion when the teams last played on Monday, as Riverdale made off with a 15-4 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Rams since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.