Baseball Preview: Valley Vikings vs. Owen County Rebels
The Valley Vikings will be playing at home against the Owen County Rebels at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Having struggled with four losses in a row, Valley finally turned things around against Shawnee on Thursday. Valley came out on top in a nail-biter against Shawnee and snuck past 6-5.
Tyler Priddy was incredible, getting on base in all three of his plate appearances with three stolen bases, a double, and an RBI. Another player making a difference was Brandon Gist, who scored two runs and stole three bases while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Owen County waltzed into their game on Thursday with three straight wins... but they left with four. They walked away with a 6-3 win over the Panthers.
Ayden Menchen made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he tossed two innings while giving up no earned run off two hits. Menchen was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 2-for-3.
In other batting news, Nathan Kemper was excellent, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with two stolen bases. Trip Allnutt was another key contributor, scoring two runs while going 2-for-3.
Valley's victory bumped their record up to 2-9. As for Owen County, they pushed their record up to 10-6 with that win, which was their fifth straight at home.
Friday's match might come down to which pitcher can control the ball better. Valley has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .449. However, it's not like Owen County struggles in that department as they've averaged .446. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Valley came up short against Owen County in their previous matchup back in April of 2017, falling 4-0. Thankfully for Valley, Cameron McAnally (who didn't allow a single earned run and only two hits while striking out 16 over seven innings pitched) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
