Baseball Preview: Draughn Wildcats vs. Mountain Heritage Cougars
Draughn is 5-0 against Mountain Heritage since April of 2022, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Draughn Wildcats will head out on the road to take on the Mountain Heritage Cougars at 6:30 p.m. Draughn's pitching crew has only allowed 2.4 runs per game this season, so Mountain Heritage's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Draughn took a loss when they played away from home on Wednesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. They won by a run and slipped past Mountain Heritage 5-4.
Blake McElyea spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned (and three unearned) runs on eight hits and racked up ten Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't pitched less than five innings in eight consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Draughn's win was truly a team effort as seven different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Tate Jensen, who scored two runs while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Gavin Johnson, who went 1-for-3 with a stolen base and an RBI.
Draughn pushed their record up to 16-4 with that victory, which was their fifth straight at home. As for Mountain Heritage, their defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 9-9.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Draughn has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 10.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Mountain Heritage struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.5. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
