Baseball Game Preview: Independence Patriots vs. James Monroe Mavericks

The Independence Patriots will venture away from home to square off against the James Monroe Mavericks at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Independence will be strutting in after a victory while James Monroe will be coming in after a defeat.

Independence took a loss when they played away from home on Saturday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Monday. They walked away with an 8-5 win over PikeView. The victory continues a trend for the Patriots in their matchups with the Panthers: they've now won three in a row.

Degan Williams was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Williams was also big at the plate, scoring a run while going 3-for-3.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Reid Warden, who scored a run while going 1-for-3. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in RBI (three). Orion Wills also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.

Meanwhile, James Monroe came up short against Greenbrier East on Monday, falling 14-4.

James Monroe saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Peyton Gardinier, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI. Another was Carson Koen, who scored a run while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances.

Independence's record now sits at 3-7-1. As for James Monroe, their loss dropped their record down to 8-7.

Everything went Independence's way against James Monroe when the teams last played back in April of 2023, as Independence made off with an 8-0 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Patriots since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.