Baseball Game Preview: Springfield Blue Devils vs. Start Spartans

The Springfield Blue Devils will square off against the Start Spartans at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Springfield has struggled recently with nine losses in a row, while Start will arrive with five straight wins.

Springfield fell victim to Napoleon and their airtight pitching crew on Tuesday. They lost 10-0 to the Wildcats. That's two games in a row now that the Blue Devils have lost by exactly ten runs.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Start). They put the hurt on Rogers with a sharp 20-1 victory on Monday. With that win, the Spartans brought their scoring average up to 7.3 runs per game.

The team relied heavily on Bryce Creecy, who went 4-for-5 with two stolen bases, five RBI, and three runs. He is becoming a predictor of Start's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 1-3-1 when he doesn't). Kayden Shuster was another key player, going a perfect 4-for-4 with two runs, one triple, and two RBI.

Start always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .658. The last time their OBP was this high was back in April of 2024.

Start's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 6-3-1. The road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 13.3 runs over those games. As for Springfield, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-10.

Springfield skirted past Start 2-0 in their previous meeting back in May of 2024. Do the Blue Devils have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Spartans turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.