Baseball Game Preview: Elsberry Indians vs. Clopton Hawks

The Elsberry Indians will head out on the road to face off against the Clopton Hawks at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday.

Elsberry is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 11 runs on Monday, they were much more limited against Silex on Tuesday. They came up short against the Owls, falling 10-0. Indians fans who chose to attend the game sure picked the wrong one: it was the first time the team's lost against the Owls since on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Clopton had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 14.5 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Monday. They were the clear victors by a 13-3 margin over the Mustangs. While the Hawks didn't have the best season last year (they finished 7-11), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.

Jacob Harrelson made a big impact no matter where he played. On the mound, he pitched three innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit. Harrelson was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-3. He also put up two doubles, which were his first of the season.

In other batting news, Clopton got a big performance out of John Grillo, who scored two runs and stole three bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. With that strong performance, Grillo is now averaging an impressive 1.2 stolen bases per game. Another player making a difference was Adam Lindsay, who scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.

Clopton was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .375. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.

Elsberry's defeat dropped their record down to 1-5. As for Clopton, their record now sits at 5-1.

Elsberry couldn't quite get it done against Clopton in their previous meeting back in April of 2024 as they fell 4-1. Can the Indians avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.