Baseball Game Preview: Kellyville Ponies vs. Stroud Tigers

The Kellyville Ponies will square off against the Stroud Tigers at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, these teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Stroud will face off against a team with plenty of momentum: Kellyville extended their winning streak to five on Tuesday. The Ponies walked away with an 11-6 win over Dewey.

Meanwhile, Stroud never let their opponents score on Friday. They put the hurt on Mounds with a sharp 12-0 victory. The result was nothing new for the Tigers, who have now won 15 contests by seven runs or more so far this season.

Cal Shields was a major factor no matter where he played. He pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two hits in seven consecutive appearances. He was also stellar in the batter's box, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with two stolen bases, three RBI, and one triple.

In other batting news, Jessen Leathers was excellent, going 1-for-2 with one home run and two RBI. Sam McCammon was another key player, going 1-for-2 with two stolen bases and two runs.

Stroud always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .586. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Mounds only posted an OBP of .312.

Stroud has been performing well recently as they've won 13 of their last 16 matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 19-8 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.1 runs over those games. As for Kellyville, their victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 15-6.

Kellyville was able to grind out a solid win over Stroud when the teams last played back in April of 2024, winning 13-8. Will the Ponies repeat their success, or do the Tigers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.