Baseball Game Preview: Austin Black Bears vs. Decatur Red Raiders

The Austin Black Bears will head out to challenge the Decatur Red Raiders at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Decatur took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Austin, who comes in off a win.

Having struggled with three losses in a row, Austin turned things around against East Limestone on Thursday. They came out on top against the Indians by a score of 5-1.

Bryant Jones

Batters Struck Out (Career)

03/06/25 vs East Limestone	8
02/28/25 vs Decatur	6
02/22/25 vs Priceville	5
02/13/25 vs Lawrence County	1

Bryant Jones spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on three hits and racked up eight Ks. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in strikeouts.

At the plate, Jaxon Potter was excellent, going 2-for-4 with two runs, one triple, and one double. That triple was his first of the season. The team also got some help courtesy of Paxton Branum, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base and two RBI.

Meanwhile, Decatur was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They lost 9-3 to East Limestone. Red Raiders fans who chose to attend the game sure picked the wrong one: it was the first time the team's lost against the Indians since on Friday.

Decatur's loss dropped their record down to 3-8. As for Austin, their win bumped their record up to 5-7.

Austin suffered a grim 13-4 defeat to Decatur in their previous meeting last Friday. Can Austin avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.