Baseball Game Preview: Wilson Central Wildcats vs. Oakland Patriots

The Wilson Central Wildcats will challenge the Oakland Patriots at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.

The home team had come away the winner the last six times Wilson Central and Cookeville had met, but sadly for the fans who attended this one that wasn't the case. The Wildcats took a 9-6 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Cavaliers on Wednesday. Wildcats fans who chose to attend the game sure picked the wrong one: it was the first time the team's lost against the Cavaliers since on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Oakland came tearing into Thursday's game with three straight wins , and they left with even more momentum. Everything went their way against the Bobcats as they made off with a 12-4 win. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Patriots considering their two-run performance the contest before.

Elijah Avelar tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only one hit over 4.1 innings pitched. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (four).

At the plate, the team relied heavily on Asher Evans, who scored three runs and stole three bases while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. Those three stolen bases gave him a new career-high. Carson Pack was another key player, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-4.

Oakland was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .391. They are a perfect 5-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.

Oakland pushed their record up to 11-11-1 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.0 runs on average over those games. As for Wilson Central, their loss dropped their record down to 8-7.

Wilson Central came out on top in a nail-biter against Oakland when the teams last played back in April of 2024, sneaking past 3-2. Do the Wildcats have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Patriots turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.