The Olmsted Falls Bulldogs will face off against the Black River Pirates at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, these teams will really light up the scoreboard.
As a matter of fact, Olmsted Falls put up the most runs they have all season on Tuesday. They fell just short of Avon Lake by a score of 12-11. The Bulldogs just can't catch a break and have now endured four losses in a row.
Tyler Hartig was cooking despite his team's loss, going a perfect 1-for-1 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. Andrew Norton was another key player, going 2-for-5 with two RBI, one run, and one double.
Meanwhile, Black River made easy work of Clearview on Thursday and carried off a 14-1 victory. The Pirates haven't had any issues with the Clippers recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive win against them.
Josh Stuart and Dozier Hendershot made a big impact no matter where they played. On the mound, Stuart tossed four innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. Meanwhile, Hendershot pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. The dominant performance also gave Stuart a new career-high in strikeouts (four). At the plate, Stuart went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, three RBI, and two runs, while Hendershot got on base in two of his four plate appearances with three stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI. Stuart has become a key player for Black River: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 3-5 otherwise.
In other batting news, Zane Kristophel was incredible, getting on base in all three of his plate appearances with two stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI. Those two RBI gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Jake Maat, who went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one double.
Black River always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .583. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Black River pushed their record up to 8-5 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.7 runs on average over those games. As for Olmsted Falls, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-8.
