The Todd County Central Rebels will take on the Heritage Christian Academy Warriors at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Todd County Central is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last four games.
While Todd County Central didn't have the best season last year (they finished 10-16), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. Everything went their way against Hopkins County Central on Tuesday as they made off with an 11-2 victory. The Rebels might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three contests by eight runs or more this season.
Tommy Vanbeber spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered two runs (both of which were unearned) on two hits and racked up 13 Ks. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in three consecutive appearances.
Peyton Ortiz
| 04/15/25 @ Hopkins County Central | 2 |
| 04/11/25 vs Kirkwood | 1 |
| 03/28/25 vs McLean County | 1 |
| 03/25/25 @ Butler County | 1 |
| 03/18/25 vs Varsity Opponent | 1 |
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Peyton Ortiz, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with one home run, two stolen bases, and three RBI. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in runs (two). Conner Wheeler was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 1-for-5.
Meanwhile, after soaring to 11 runs the game before, Heritage Christian Academy was a bit more limited in their game on Tuesday. They fell 5-2 to Fort Campbell. The Warriors haven't had much luck with the Falcons recently, as the team has come up short the last four times they've met.
Heritage Christian Academy saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Ethan Miles, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-2.
Todd County Central's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 7-3. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Heritage Christian Academy, their loss dropped their record down to 3-7.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Todd County Central has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Heritage Christian Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.4 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Todd County Central took their win against Heritage Christian Academy in their previous meeting back in May of 2022 by a conclusive 16-6 score. Do the Rebels have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Warriors turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
