Baseball Game Preview: Lloyd Memorial Juggernauts vs. Grant County Braves

Lloyd Memorial hasn't had much luck against Grant County recently, but that could start to change on Saturday. The Juggernauts will challenge the Braves at 10:00 a.m.

Lloyd Memorial fell victim to Newport Central Catholic and their airtight pitching crew on Wednesday. They lost 11-0 to the Thoroughbreds.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Grant County). Everything went their way against Dayton on Wednesday as they made off with a 16-1 win. Considering the Braves have won six matches by more than six runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.

Xavier Camacho was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing 2.1 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (three). He was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-3.

In other batting news, Grant County got a massive performance out of Luke Williams, who scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. Williams is becoming a predictor of the Braves' success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 2-3 when he doesn't). James Ely was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 3-for-3.

Grant County kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 13 hits. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Dayton didn't got any hits.

The victory made it two in a row for Grant County and bumps their season record up to 7-3. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 14.0 runs over those games. As for Lloyd Memorial, their loss dropped their record down to 4-4.

Lloyd Memorial couldn't quite finish off Grant County when the teams last played back in May of 2024 and fell 2-0. Can the Juggernauts avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.