Baseball Preview: Stone Tomcats vs. Vancleave Bulldogs
The Stone Tomcats will head out on the road to take on the Vancleave Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Stone sitting on nine straight victories and Vancleave on eight.
Stone scored the most runs they've had all season to find success on Thursday. They put the hurt on Laurel with a sharp 16-1 win. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest victory of the season.
Connor Tice made a big impact no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out nine batters over three innings while giving up no earned run off one hit (and only one walk). Tice was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with a triple, two RBI, and a run.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Daylon Collins, who scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Anderson Hickman, who scored a run while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances.
Meanwhile, in what's become a running theme this season, Vancleave gave their fans yet another huge win on Saturday. They blew past Wayne County 12-1.
Like Stone, Vancleave also got a great game from a two-way player: Hunter Parker. He pitched four innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit. Parker has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up a single earned run in three consecutive pitching appearances. Parker was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
In other pitching news, Levi Tapp looked comfortable as he tossed an inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit (he also didn't allow any walks). He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive pitching appearances.
Back at the plate, Tyler West was excellent, scoring two runs while going 2-for-3. Layton Eder was another key contributor, going 2-for-4 with three RBI.
Stone has been performing well recently as they've won ten of their last 12 matches, which provided a massive bump to their 13-8-1 record this season. As for Vancleave, they pushed their record up to 15-6 with that victory, which was their fifth straight on the road.
Stone came out on top in a nail-biter against Vancleave when the teams last played back in April of 2021, sneaking past 4-2. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Vancleave's Max Miller, who struck out six batters over 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits (and not a single walk). Now that he won't be playing on Tuesday, will it be that much easier for Stone to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
