Baseball Game Preview: St. John's Bluejays vs. Montpelier Locomotives

The St. John's Bluejays will face off against the Montpelier Locomotives at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday.

St. John's managed to slip by Fort Recovery the last time these teams faced off, but didn't have those same answers this time around. The Bluejays came up short against the Indians on Wednesday, falling 12-6. The Bluejays have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Meanwhile, Montpelier waltzed into their game on Friday with four straight wins... but they left with five. They were the clear victors by an 11-1 margin over the Blue Streaks. The result was nothing new for the Locomotives, who have now won seven contests by six runs or more so far this season.

Kenneth Smeltzer made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he tossed six innings while giving up just one earned run off six hits. He has been consistent for a while: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in nine consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two RBI and one double. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in April.

In other batting news, Wesley Hartsock and Hayden Sharps did most of the damage at the plate: Hartsock went 2-for-4 with three runs and two RBI, while Sharps got on base in four of his five plate appearances with two runs and one RBI. What's more, Sharps posted two hits, the most he's had since back in April. The team also got some help courtesy of Tyler Plourde, who went 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI.

Montpelier pushed their record up to 14-2 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for St. John's, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-8.

St. John's suffered a grim 12-2 defeat to Montpelier in their previous matchup back in May of 2021. Can the Bluejays avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.