Baseball Game Preview: Ridgevue Warhawks vs. Owyhee Storm

The Ridgevue Warhawks will take on the Owyhee Storm at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Ridgevue is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Idaho's top teams: Mountain View, who was ranked ninth at the time (Ridgevue was ranked 17th). The Warhawks lost 11-0 to the Mavericks on Tuesday. The Warhawks were red-hot at the plate heading into the game (they scored no less than ten runs in the three matches prior), but the Mavericks' pitchers proved too tough.

Meanwhile, Owyhee strolled into their game on Friday with a perfect record and they left with the same. They came within a single run of losing the streak, but they secured a 7-6 W against Mountain View. Seven seems to be a good number for the Storm as the squad scooped up a victory with the same number of runs in their previous game.

Heath Sasser-Gunson looked comfortable as he pitched three innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off one hit. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two hits any time he's pitched this season.

At the plate, Gage Haws was excellent, scoring two runs while going 2-for-3.

Owyhee's win was their 16th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 14-0. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.8 runs on average over those games. As for Ridgevue, their loss dropped their record down to 6-4-1.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Ridgevue has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.6 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Owyhee struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.8 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.

Ridgevue might still be hurting after the 8-0 defeat they got from Owyhee when the teams last played back in March of 2024. Can the Warhawks avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.