The Etowah Blue Devils will head out to take on the Springville Tigers at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Etowah has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the game with five straight defeats, while Springville will come in with three straight wins.
Etowah fell victim to Presbyterian Christian and their airtight pitching crew on Thursday. They lost 6-0 to the Bobcats. The contest marked the first time this year in which the Blue Devils were not able to get on the board.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Springville). They were the clear victors by a 16-0 margin over Center Point on Tuesday. The team's explosion at the plate also rewarded the Tigers with their most commanding win of the season.
Alex Ford made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Ford was also big at the plate, getting on base in all three of his plate appearances with two RBI and one run. Those two RBI gave him a new career-high.
In other batting news, Luke Hale and Grant Martinez did most of the damage at the plate: Hale went a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs and four RBI, while Martinez went a perfect 1-for-1 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. Those three runs gave Hale a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Gabe McCain, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with two RBI, one run, and one double.
Springville always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .750. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Springville's record is now 5-2. As for Etowah, their loss dropped their record down to 1-6.
Etowah was able to grind out a solid victory over Springville when the teams last played back in March of 2022, winning 4-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Blue Devils since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
