Baseball Game Preview: Maiden Blue Devils vs. Hickory Red Tornadoes

Maiden is on a seven-game streak of home wins, while Hickory is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Blue Devils will host the Red Tornadoes at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. The two teams are strolling into their contests after big wins in their previous games.

Maiden lost a heartbreaker the last time they played Newton-Conover, but it's fair to say they got their revenge given the result of Thursday's match. The Blue Devils blew past the Red Devils 10-4 on Thursday. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last five times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.

Collin Chappel

Batters Struck Out

04/17/25 vs Newton-Conover	9
04/04/25 vs Bandys	14
03/28/25 @ West Lincoln	10

Collin Chappel was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out nine batters over 5.1 innings while giving up three earned (and one unearned) runs off four hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than nine strikeouts in three consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two RBI.

In other batting news, Ethan Whittaker was incredible, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with three stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI. That's the most runs he has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Zane Williams, who went 2-for-4 with two doubles, one run, and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Hickory made easy work of Statesville on Thursday and carried off an 11-1 victory. The Red Tornadoes might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won six games by six runs or more this season.

Hickory has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight contests. That's provided a massive bump to their 11-7 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.5 runs over those games. As for Maiden, their victory bumped their record up to 13-8.

Maiden might still be hurting after the 14-7 loss they got from Hickory when the teams last played back in March. Can the Blue Devils avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.