Baseball Game Preview: Oakdale Warriors vs. Rapides Mustangs

The Oakdale Warriors will square off against the Rapides Mustangs at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Oakdale will be strutting in after a victory while Rapides will be coming in after a defeat.

If Oakdale beats Rapides with 11 runs on Tuesday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two matchups with that exact score. Everything went Oakdale's way against Lake Charles College Prep on Monday as Oakdale made off with an 11-1 win. The victory was familiar territory for the Warriors, who have now won three contests in a row.

Braedan Strother

Batters Struck Out (Career)

03/24/25 @ Lake Charles College Prep	7
02/17/25 vs Converse	6
03/26/24 vs Pickering	6
02/13/25 vs LaGrange	5
04/11/24 @ Rosepine	5

Braedan Strother was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out seven batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits (and only one walk). Those seven strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with four RBI, one triple, and one double. That triple was his first of the season.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Maddox Thompson, who went 2-for-3 with two runs, one triple, and two RBI. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in March of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Matthew Hebert, who scored two runs while going 3-for-3.

Oakdale always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .531. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Lake Charles College Prep only posted an OBP of .235.

For whatever reason, it's the away team that's had the advantage when Rapides and Hicks meet (four straight games heading into this one) and that held true again on Friday. Rapides fell just short of Hicks by a score of 6-4. The Mustangs haven't had much luck with the Pirates recently, as the team has come up short the last eight times they've met.

Rapides now has a losing record of 8-9. As for Oakdale, the win got them back to even at 12-12.

Oakdale took their victory against Rapides in their previous meeting back in April of 2017 by a conclusive 7-1. Does Oakdale have another victory up their sleeve, or will Rapides turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.