Baseball Game Preview: Browning Indians vs. Bigfork Vikings & Valkyries

The Browning Indians will venture away from home to take on the Bigfork Vikings & Valkyries at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Browning has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the matchup with 20 straight defeats, while Bigfork will come in with four straight wins.

Browning is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Montana's top teams: Lincoln County, who was ranked eighth at the time (Browning was ranked 17th). The Indians came up short against the Lions on Monday, falling 20-0.

Meanwhile, Bigfork narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past Polson 7-6.

The team relied heavily on Ryeln Rodriguez, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with four stolen bases and two runs. He has become a key player for Bigfork: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 2-3 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Ryder Hamilton, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs and one stolen base.

Bigfork pushed their record up to 6-3 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. Those road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 18.7 runs over those games. As for Browning, their loss dropped their record down to 0-6.

Browning suffered a grim 31-1 defeat to Bigfork in their previous matchup back in April. Can the Indians avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.