Baseball Game Preview: Shelby Valley Wildcats vs. Harlan County Black Bears

Shelby Valley is on a five-game streak of home losses, and Harlan County a five-game streak of away losses. However, someone's due for a change in luck on Friday. The Shelby Valley Wildcats will host the Harlan County Black Bears at 6:00 p.m. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this match.

Belfry hit Shelby Valley with a four-run second inning on Tuesday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Wildcats fell just short of the Pirates by a score of 8-7. Wildcats fans who chose to attend the game sure picked the wrong one: it was the first time the team's lost against the Pirates since on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Thursday just wasn't the day for Harlan County's offense. They came up short against Whitley County on Thursday, falling 15-0.

Harlan County saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Dashaun Smith, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base. Chance Sturgill also deserves some recognition as he got his first hit of the season.

Harlan County's defeat dropped their record down to 5-14-1. As for Shelby Valley, their loss dropped their record down to 4-15.

Shelby Valley came out on top in a nail-biter against Harlan County in their previous meeting back in March, sneaking past 6-5. Will the Wildcats repeat their success, or do the Black Bears have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.