The Casteel Colts will head out to challenge the Basha Bears at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday. Casteel will be strutting in after a victory while Basha will be coming in after a defeat.
Casteel proved they can win big on Tuesday (they won by ten) and on Wednesday they proved they can win the close ones too. They had just enough and edged out Chandler 3-1. The Colts haven't had any issues with the Wolves recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive win against them.
Casteel got a great performance from Reid Gantenbein-Puchi as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit over 5.2 innings pitched.
On the hitting side, Taylor Dodd was excellent, going 1-for-3 with one triple, one run, and one RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Baylor Denny, who went 2-for-3 with one RBI.
Meanwhile, Basha suffered their biggest loss since March 6th on Tuesday. They lost 14-4 to Casteel. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last four times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.
Paxton Koch and Lincoln Demmons did some serious damage despite the final result: Koch went 1-for-3 with one home run and two RBI, while Demmons got on base in all three of his plate appearances with one home run. That home run marked the first that Demmons launched this season. Tyson Michie was another key player, going 2-for-3 with one home run.
Casteel pushed their record up to 11-4 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Basha, they have traveled a rocky road recently, having lost three of their last four matchups. That's put a noticeable dent in their 6-7-1 record this season.
Basha's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Casteel hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .357. It's a different story for Basha, though, as they've only averaged .245. Will they be able to contain Casteel's hitters?
Casteel took their victory against Basha in their previous meeting on Tuesday by a conclusive 14-4 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Colts since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
