Baseball Game Preview: Green Hits the Road

By Team Reports May 2, 2024, 3:15am

Baseball Preview: Green Bobcats vs. Portsmouth Trojans

Green is 0-5 against Portsmouth since April of 2022 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Green Bobcats will be staying on the road to face off against the Portsmouth Trojans at 5:00 p.m. Green knows how to get runs on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy run totals in its past four matchups -- so hopefully Portsmouth likes a good challenge.

Green stacked an eighth blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Wednesday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Oak Hill an 11-0 shutout. Give Green's pitching crew some credit: that's the team's third straight shutout.

Jonathan Knapp made a big impact no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and only two hits while striking out ten over five innings pitched. Knapp has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't pitched less than five innings in seven consecutive pitching appearances. Knapp was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 2-for-4.

In other batting news, Gabe Blevins was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-1. Another player making a difference was Nathaniel Brannigan, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-3.

Meanwhile, Portsmouth had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 6.4 runs), and they went ahead and made it six on Wednesday. They walked away with a 4-0 victory over the Redmen.

Like Green, Portsmouth also got a great game from a two-way player: Trevin Brooks. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out 11 over seven innings pitched. Brooks was also big at the plate, going 2-for-2 with two stolen bases and an RBI.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Nik Copley, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-2. J.T. Williams was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing three bases while going 1-for-3.

Green pushed their record up to 13-4 with that win, which was their sixth straight on the road. As for Portsmouth, they are on a roll lately: they've won ten of their last 11 games, which provided a nice bump to their 15-4 record this season.

Thursday's match will be a test for both team's pitchers. Green hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .355. However, it's not like Portsmouth struggles in that department as they've averaged .387. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.

Green came up short against Portsmouth in their previous meeting back in April, falling 8-4. Can Green avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.

Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps