Baseball Game Preview: Riverside-Durham Pirates vs. East Chapel Hill Wildcats

Riverside-Durham and East Chapel Hill are an even 5-5 against one another since April of 2016, but likely not for long. The Pirates will be playing at home against the Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Riverside-Durham is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 9.5 runs per game this season.

Riverside-Durham will bounce into Tuesday's matchup after beating Jordan, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. The Pirates came out on top against the Falcons by a score of 9-6 on Tuesday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Pirates.

Brayden Mottola made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He pitched five innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off seven hits. Mottola was also big at the plate, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with two runs and one RBI.

Kj Burton

Runs

04/15/25 vs Jordan	3
04/12/25 vs Chapel Hill	2
04/08/25 @ Chapel Hill	0
03/27/25 vs Hillside	2
03/25/25 @ Hillside	1
+ 6 more games

In other batting news, Kj Burton was incredible, getting on base in four of his five plate appearances with three runs and one stolen base. That's the most runs he has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Lucas Setji, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.

Riverside-Durham always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .605. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Jordan only posted an OBP of .395.

Meanwhile, Wednesday just wasn't the day for East Chapel Hill's offense. They lost 11-0 to Jordan on Wednesday. The loss continues a trend for the Wildcats in their meetings with the Falcons: they've now lost five in a row.

Riverside-Durham's win was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 12-1. Those home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.9 runs over those games. As for East Chapel Hill, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-10.

Riverside-Durham skirted past East Chapel Hill 3-2 in their previous matchup back in April of 2024. Do the Pirates have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Wildcats turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.