Baseball Game Preview: Lovejoy Wildcats vs. McIntosh Chiefs

The Lovejoy Wildcats will head out on the road to square off against the McIntosh Chiefs at 5:55 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

Lovejoy will roll into the game after a wild two-game stretch: they didn't score any runs on Tuesday, then bounced right back against Banneker on Wednesday. The Wildcats were the clear victors by a 16-2 margin over the Trojans. The Wildcats not only won on Wednesday, but they posted their biggest win since March 4th.

Meanwhile, McIntosh got themselves on the board against Lovejoy, but Lovejoy never followed suit. They were the clear victors by an 11-0 margin over the Wildcats. Considering the Chiefs have won ten matchups by more than five runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.

Will Downing made a big impact no matter where he played. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out nine over five innings pitched. He also tossed no walks, which is notable because McIntosh is undefeated when he allows at most one walk, but 9-15 otherwise. Downing was also solid in the batter's box, going a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBI and one double. Those three hits gave him a new career-high.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on JD Raney, who went 2-for-3 with five RBI, one triple, and one run. Those five RBI gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Will Nixon, who scored two runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-3.

McIntosh kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 15 hits. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their hit total in three consecutive contests.

Lovejoy's victory ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 9-11-1. As for McIntosh, the win snapped their losing streak at three games and leaves them with a 12-15 record.

Lovejoy suffered a grim 11-0 defeat to McIntosh in their previous meeting on Tuesday. Can the Wildcats avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.