Baseball Game Preview: Eminence Eels vs. Owen Valley Patriots

The Eminence Eels are taking a road trip to take on the Owen Valley Patriots at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

Eminence took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Saturday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Mooresville Christian a 7-0 shutout. The Eels might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three games by seven runs or more this season.

Mason Setser

Batters Struck Out (Career)

05/02/26 vs Mooresville Christian	12
04/23/26 @ Christel House	9
05/12/25 vs Providence Cristo Rey	7
05/03/25 vs Cloverdale	7
04/13/26 vs Bethesda Christian	5

Mason Setser made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out 12 over seven innings pitched. Those 12 strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also big at the plate, going 1-for-2 with three stolen bases and one run. He has become a key player for Eminence: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two stolen bases, but 1-5 otherwise.

In other batting news, James Belcher was incredible, getting on base in all three of his plate appearances with four stolen bases and two runs. Eminence is undefeated when Belcher posts two or more stolen bases, but 1-5 otherwise. Hunter Coyle also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.

Eminence always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .517. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Mooresville Christian only posted an OBP of .222.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Owen Valley). They blew past White River Valley 16-2 on Monday. The Patriots haven't had any issues with the Wolverines recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive victory against them.

Eminence's record now sits at 4-5. As for Owen Valley, their record is now 5-7.

Eminence suffered a grim 21-1 defeat to Owen Valley in their previous matchup back in April of 2021. Can the Eels avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.