Baseball Game Preview: Valley Mills Eagles vs. Dawson Bulldogs

The Valley Mills Eagles will challenge the Dawson Bulldogs on Thursday. Valley Mills' pitching crew has only allowed four runs per game this season, so Dawson's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

Valley Mills is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They came out on top against Graford by a score of 6-1.

Jackson Sparkman spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered a run (which was unearned) on five hits.

At the plate, Blayne Griner and Bryson Bell did most of the damage at the plate: Griner got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one run and one RBI, while Bell got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases. Another player making a difference was Jayden Gonzales, who went 1-for-4 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Dawson got the win against Meridian on Thursday by a conclusive 13-4. The Bulldogs might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won eight matches by eight runs or more this season.

The team relied heavily on Kane Funderburk, who got on base in two of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases and two runs. He has become a key player for Dawson: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 5-8 otherwise.

Valley Mills is on a roll lately: they've won 14 of their last 16 contests. That's provided a massive bump to their 18-10 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.3 runs over those games. As for Dawson, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 12-8.

Valley Mills took their win against Dawson in their previous meeting back in March of 2022 by a conclusive 13-1 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Eagles since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.