Baseball Preview: Purnell Swett Rams vs. Cape Fear Colts
The Purnell Swett Rams will head out on the road to square off against the Cape Fear Colts at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Purnell Swett sitting on six straight victories and Cape Fear on 12.
On Wednesday, Purnell Swett earned a 9-4 win over Lumberton.
Chandon Sanderson made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He didn't allow a single earned run over six innings pitched. Sanderson was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Easton Oxendine, who went 2-for-4 with two runs and a triple. Another player making a difference was Joseden Oxendine, who went 1-for-4 with two runs and a triple.
Meanwhile, Cape Fear sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 6-5 victory over Gray's Creek on Wednesday.
Cape Fear also got a great performance from Logan Rayburn as he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out eight over 6.2 innings pitched.
At the plate, Lucca Pascarella and Mason Hughes did most of the damage at the plate: Pascarella went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI, while Hughes scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Evan Bunce was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.
Purnell Swett is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine matches, which provided a nice bump to their 16-8 record this season. As for Cape Fear, they pushed their record up to 22-4 with that win, which was their eighth straight at home.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Thursday as neither team is afraid to steal. Purnell Swett has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 4.2 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Cape Fear struggles in that department as they've been averaging 5.1. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Purnell Swett might still be hurting after the 7-0 loss they got from Cape Fear when the teams last played back in April. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Cape Fear's Ethan Plesser, who kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 14 over seven innings pitched. Now that Purnell Swett knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
