Baseball Game Preview: Hatley Tigers vs. Alcorn Central Bears

The Hatley Tigers will head out on the road to face off against the Alcorn Central Bears at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. Hatley is coming into the match hot, having won their last four games.

If Hatley beats Alcorn Central with eight runs on Saturday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two contests with that exact score. The Tigers blew past Walnut 8-1 on Friday. Considering the Tigers have won ten games by more than five runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.

Carson Armstrong made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (three). He was even better at the plate, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-3.

In other batting news, Hatley let Kane Wren and Garett Wilkinson run wild. Wren scored a run while going 2-for-3, while Wilkinson got on base in four of his five plate appearances with two RBI. That's the most hits Wren has posted since back in March. Tristan Hendrix was another key player, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 1-for-5.

Meanwhile, Alcorn Central came up short against Kossuth on Friday, falling 9-1.

Alcorn Central saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jayse Johnson, who scored a run while going 2-for-2.

The win got Hatley back to even at 13-13. As for Alcorn Central, they have traveled a rocky road recently, having lost three of their last four matchups. That's put a noticeable dent in their 13-12 record this season.

The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Saturday as neither team is afraid to steal. Hatley has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 2.7 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Alcorn Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging 2.8 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.