Baseball Game Preview: Grand Junction Tigers vs. Heritage Eagles

Tigers

Runs

04/04/26 vs Durango	1
04/03/26 @ Durango	9
03/31/26 @ Rifle	11
03/28/26 vs Grandview	7
03/27/26 vs Castle View	6
+ 7 more games

The Grand Junction Tigers will head out to square off against the Heritage Eagles at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Grand Junction is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.8 runs per game this season.

Grand Junction is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Colorado's top teams: Durango, who was ranked 18th at the time (Grand Junction was ranked 20th). The Tigers fell just short of the Demons by a score of 3-1 on Saturday. The contest marked the Tigers' lowest-scoring matchup so far this season.

Andrew Henderson spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just two earned (and one unearned) runs on six hits and racked up eight Ks. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in three consecutive appearances.

At the plate, Grand Junction saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Clayton Scarbrough, who went 1-for-3 with one double and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Heritage fought the good fight in their extra-innings game against Broomfield on Tuesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell 9-5 to Broomfield. Heritage just can't catch a break and has now endured five losses in a row.

James Kellogg made the most of his time in the batter's box despite the final result and went 1-for-3 with one home run and three RBI.

Heritage's defeat dropped their record down to 5-5-1. As for Grand Junction, their loss dropped their record down to 9-3.

Heritage's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Grand Junction has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 11.1 hits per game. It's a different story for Heritage, though, as they've been averaging 9 hits. Given Grand Junction's sizable advantage in that area, the Eagles will need to find a way to close that gap.

Grand Junction was able to grind out a solid win over Heritage when the teams last played back in April of 2025, winning 9-4. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Tigers since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.