Baseball Preview: Fossil Ridge SaberCats vs. Heritage Eagles
Fossil Ridge has been on the road for three straight, but on Saturday they'll finally head home. They will take on the Heritage Eagles at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Fossil Ridge is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 9.9 runs per game this season.
Fossil Ridge can now show off 14 landslide victories after their most recent match on Thursday. They blew past Mountain Range 20-1. While fans of Fossil Ridge might be used to big wins, the 19-run margin marked the team's biggest one yet.
Luc Gaca-Thiele made a splash while hitting and pitching. He tossed three innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. Gaca-Thiele has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two hits in four consecutive pitching appearances. Gaca-Thiele was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring four runs while getting on base in all five of his plate appearances.
In other pitching news, Braeden Fritz looked comfortable as he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one hit in three consecutive pitching appearances.
Back at the plate, Fossil Ridge got a massive performance out of Jensen Planansky, who scored four runs and stole two bases while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. Hayden Hixon was another key contributor, scoring three runs while going 4-for-5.
Meanwhile, Heritage was not able to break out of their rough patch on Wednesday as the team picked up their fourth straight defeat. They took a 9-5 hit to the loss column at the hands of Douglas County.
Heritage also got a good showing from Neil Kline, who tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit.
At the plate, Mason VanWyk and Jaxon Case stepped up to the plate in a big way. VanWyk scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances, while Case went 1-for-4 with a triple, two RBI, and a run. Another player making a difference was Grant Bazinet, who scored a run and stole a base while going 3-for-4.
Fossil Ridge's win was their seventh straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 20-1. As for Heritage, their loss dropped their record down to 11-11.
Fossil Ridge's speedy runners might be the difference in Saturday's game. Fossil Ridge has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 4.8 stolen bases per game. It's a different story for Heritage, though, as they've been averaging only 0.9. Will they be able to secure the bases, or will Fossil Ridge continue to outrun the ball?
Fossil Ridge came up short against Heritage when the teams last played back in March of 2023, falling 6-2. Thankfully for Fossil Ridge, Trevor Landen (who struck out ten batters over 5.2 innings while giving up just two earned runs off five hits) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
