Baseball Game Preview: Cherokee Trail Cougars vs. ThunderRidge Grizzlies

The Cherokee Trail Cougars will face off against the ThunderRidge Grizzlies at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Cherokee Trail's pitching crew has only allowed 2.8 runs per game this season, so ThunderRidge's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

Last Wednesday, Cherokee Trail didn't have quite enough to beat Regis Jesuit and fell 3-2.

Carter Wilcox was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he struck out nine batters over five innings while giving up three earned runs off six hits (and not a single walk). Furthermore, he didn't allow a single walk, the first time he has blanked an opponent since back in April of 2024.

At the plate, Landon McWilliams made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 1-for-3 with one home run and two RBI. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in April of 2024.

Meanwhile, ThunderRidge suffered their closest defeat since April 5, 2024 on Thursday. They fell just short of Pueblo West by a score of 8-6. The Grizzlies have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Kyle Zebroski was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 3-for-4. That stolen base marked the first that he snagged this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Nathan Pickett, who scored a run while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.

Even though they lost, ThunderRidge always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .538. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.

Cherokee Trail's loss dropped their record down to 6-3. As for ThunderRidge, they now have a losing record of 3-4.

Cherokee Trail was able to grind out a solid win over ThunderRidge when the teams last played back in April of 2024, winning 5-2. Will Cherokee Trail repeat their success, or does ThunderRidge has a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.