Baseball Preview: WestSide Renegades vs. Tug Valley Panthers
The WestSide Renegades will be playing at home against the Tug Valley Panthers at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. WestSide knows how to get runs on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy run totals in its past four games -- so hopefully Tug Valley likes a good challenge.
WestSide can now show off seven landslide victories after their most recent contest on Tuesday. They blew past Van 18-4. While fans of WestSide might be used to big wins, the 14-run margin marked the team's biggest one yet.
Bryson Blankenship made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out seven batters over five innings while giving up four earned runs off five hits. Blankenship has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive pitching appearances. Blankenship was also big at the plate, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with three RBI and two doubles.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Kadien Vance, who scored three runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-4. Another player making a difference was Charlie Hawks, who scored two runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Tug Valley fell victim to a rough 15-9 loss at the hands of Scott on Thursday. Even though they lost, Tug Valley's still made a splash at the plate and bumped their average scoring up to 6.1 runs per game (they're now ranked -1th in scoring overall).
Conner Lackey was cooking despite his team's loss, going 3-for-4 with four RBI and two doubles. Julian Vance was another key contributor, scoring three runs and stealing a base while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.
WestSide's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 10-4. As for Tug Valley, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 10-13 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. WestSide has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.4 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Tug Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.4. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Everything went WestSide's way against Tug Valley in their previous meeting back in March as WestSide made off with a 10-3 victory. Will WestSide repeat their success, or does Tug Valley have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
