Baseball Preview: Western Reserve Blue Devils vs. Badger Braves
The Western Reserve Blue Devils will head out on the road to square off against the Badger Braves at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Badger is hoping to do on Thursday what Lowellville couldn't on Wednesday: put an end to Western Reserve's winning streak, which now stands at three games. Western Reserve blew past Lowellville 13-3.
Brock Wellman was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he pitched five innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off nine hits. Wellman was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last four times he's played.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Evan Slaven, who went 2-for-3 with three runs, four RBI, and a triple. Peyton Hartzell was another key contributor, going 2-for-2 with two RBI and a double.
Meanwhile, Badger was able to grind out a solid victory over Chaney on Tuesday, taking the game 7-4.
Like Western Reserve, Badger also got a great game from a two-way player: Tyler McWilliams. He didn't allow a single earned run over seven innings pitched. McWilliams was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 2-for-4.
In other batting news, Jacob Toto was excellent, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 3-for-4. Another player making a difference was Hudson Rice, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-3.
Western Reserve has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 6-15 record this season. As for Badger, their record is now 2-11.
Badger's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Western Reserve has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .436. It's a different story for Badger, though, as they've only averaged .349. Will they be able to contain Western Reserve's hitters? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other baseball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
