Baseball Game Preview: Buckeye Valley Barons vs. Johnstown-Monroe Johnnies

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Previous 3 Games

05/14/24 - Home	7-4 W
05/28/22 - Home	6-4 W
05/28/22 - Neutral	6-4 W

Buckeye Valley is a perfect 3-0 against Johnstown-Monroe since May of 2022 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Saturday. The Barons will head out on the road to take on the Johnnies at 12:00 p.m. Buckeye Valley's pitching crew has only allowed 3.3 runs per game this season, so Johnstown-Monroe's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

On Friday, Buckeye Valley was able to grind out a solid win over Grandview Heights, taking the game 5-2. The victory continues a trend for the Barons in their matchups with the Bobcats: they've now won eight in a row.

While Johnstown-Monroe didn't have the best season last year (they finished 9-18), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Utica on Friday, sneaking past 4-3. The four-run effort marked the Johnnies' lowest-scoring match of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.

Garrett Penrod tossed a big game, striking out seven batters over 6.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off two hits.

On the hitting side, Erik Marohl was excellent, scoring a run while going 4-for-4. Those four hits gave him a new career-high. Jackson Ryan also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.

Buckeye Valley's win was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 4-2-1. The road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.2 runs over those games. As for Johnstown-Monroe, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 4-1.

Buckeye Valley beat Johnstown-Monroe 7-4 when the teams last played back in May of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Barons since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.