Baseball Game Preview: Cuyahoga Heights Red Wolves vs. Kirtland Hornets

Cuyahoga Heights is 2-8 against Kirtland since April of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Red Wolves will be playing at home against the Hornets at 5:00 p.m. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

On Wednesday, Cuyahoga Heights needed a bit of extra time to put away Independence. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 2-1 win over the Blue Devils. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Red Wolves have posted since April 1st.

Meanwhile, Kirtland strolled into their game on Wednesday with a perfect record and they left with the same. Everything went their way against Harvey as they made off with a 15-2 win. The Hornets might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven games by six runs or more this season.

Max Paul tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run while striking out seven over five innings pitched. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive appearances.

At the plate, the team relied heavily on Carter Luzar, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two stolen bases, three runs, and one triple. That triple was his first of the season. Another player making a difference was Luciano Cantini, who went 1-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI.

Kirtland kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits every time they've taken the field this season.

Kirtland's victory was their fourth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-0. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.8 runs on average over those games. As for Cuyahoga Heights, their victory bumped their record up to 6-4.