Baseball Game Preview: Johnston City Indians vs. Vienna Eagles

The Johnston City Indians will head out on the road to face off against the Vienna Eagles at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Johnston City will be looking to extend their current five-game winning streak.

Johnston City barely beat Carmi-White County the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Indians were the clear victors by a 6-0 margin over the Bulldogs on Wednesday. Considering the Indians have won nine matches by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.

Vienna's found some homefield redemption this week after a overtime loss to Johnston City on Wednesday. The Eagles walked away with a 6-1 win over Carrier Mills-Stonefort. The Eagles haven't had any issues with the Wildcats recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive victory against them.

Jackson Ethridge was incredible, going 2-for-3 with one home run, two runs, and one stolen base. He is becoming a predictor of Vienna's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 2-6 when he doesn't). The team also got some help courtesy of Braedon Hurst, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.

Vienna's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 9-6. The home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.8 runs over those games. As for Johnston City, their win bumped their record up to 14-4.

Johnston City came out on top in a nail-biter against Vienna when the teams last played on Tuesday, sneaking past 5-4. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Indians since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.