Richmond has enjoyed a four-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will face off against the New Palestine Dragons at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Both teams have allowed few runs on average, (Richmond: 3.3, New Palestine: 2.3) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Last Saturday, it was a hard-fought match, but Richmond had to settle for a 5-3 defeat against Seymour. The loss continues a trend for Richmond in their matchups with Seymour: they've now lost six in a row.
Casey Blevins spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered five earned runs on seven hits and racked up nine Ks. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in nine consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Richmond saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jayvian Burdette, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, New Palestine had already proven themselves in the regular season and they didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. Their pitchers stepped up to hand Muncie Central a 22-0 shutout on Wednesday. Considering New Palestine has won 14 matchups by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Jacob Morris made a big impact no matter where he played. On the mound, he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Morris was also big at the plate, going 3-for-3 with four RBI, a run, and a double.
In other batting news, Wyatt Matheis was incredible, scoring four runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Nic Deering was another key contributor, scoring three runs while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.
Richmond's defeat dropped their record down to 13-8. As for New Palestine, the win was the fifth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 22-5.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Saturday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Richmond has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like New Palestine struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.6. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other baseball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
