Baseball Game Preview: Vallivue Falcons vs. Caldwell Cougars

The Vallivue Falcons will venture away from home to square off against the Caldwell Cougars at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Vallivue has six straight wins, Caldwell has five straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Vallivue took a six-run loss the last time they faced off against Skyview, but this time they managed to keep it close and that made all the difference. The Falcons narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past the Hawks 9-7. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Falcons have posted against the Hawks since May 3, 2018.

Gage Warrington looked comfortable as he tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits.

At the plate, Cooper Crutcher and Aaron Rayo did most of the damage at the plate: Crutcher scored a run while going 2-for-4, while Rayo scored a run while going 3-for-4. Another player making a difference was Colt Augustus, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.

Meanwhile, Caldwell lost 13-3 to Bishop Kelly on Tuesday.

Caldwell saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Julian Flores, who scored a run while going 3-for-3.

Vallivue's victory was their 12th straight at home, which pushed their record up to 19-1. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.8 runs on average over those games. As for Caldwell, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-14.

Caldwell's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Vallivue hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .352. It's a different story for Caldwell, though, as they've only averaged .239. Will they be able to contain Vallivue's hitters?

Vallivue took their victory against Caldwell in their previous meeting on April 1st by a conclusive 21-1 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Falcons since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.