The Summers County Bobcats will venture away from home to square off against the PikeView Panthers at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are strolling into their games after big wins in their previous games.
Summers County took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They never let Bluefield get on the board and left with a 10-0 win. The high-scoring effort was just what the Bobcats needed considering they were shut out in their previous contest.
Summers County got a big performance out of Robey Brown, who went 1-for-2 with three stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI. That's the most stolen bases Brown has posted since back in April. Braiden Cozort also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.
The home team had come away the winner the last four times PikeView and Nicholas County had met, but sadly for the fans who attended this one that wasn't the case. The Panthers blew past the Grizzlies 7-0 on Thursday. The result was nothing new for the Panthers, who have now won nine matchups by six runs or more so far this season.
Not much got past Landon Bolen, who gave up just a hit and racked up six Ks to keep Nicholas County off the board. Bolen has been consistent: he hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Drew Damewood, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with two stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Trenton Tolliver, who went 2-for-4 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.
Summers County pushed their record up to 9-16-1 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.7 runs on average over those games. As for PikeView, their victory ended a four-game drought on the road and puts them at 12-9.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Friday as neither team is afraid to steal. Summers County has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like PikeView struggles in that department as they've been averaging 4.3 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Summers County suffered a grim 11-1 defeat to PikeView in their previous matchup back in April. Can the Bobcats avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
