The Marion County Warriors will square off against the CSTHEA Patriots at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Marion County has three straight victories, CSTHEA has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Marion County proved they can win big on Friday (they won by 24) and on Saturday they proved they can win the close ones too. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Signal Mountain, sneaking past 4-2.
Eli Yell
| 04/04/26 vs Signal Mountain | 1 |
| 03/30/26 vs East Hamilton | 1 |
| 03/18/26 vs Bledsoe County | 0 |
Eli Yell spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned (and one unearned) run on five hits and racked up six Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Marion County saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Eli Blevins, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base and one run. Brett Webb was another, earning one run and two stolen bases.
Meanwhile, CSTHEA didn't have quite enough to beat Grace Baptist Academy on Tuesday and fell 6-5.
Connor Dodson put in work no matter where he played. He struck out eight batters over four innings while giving up three earned runs off five hits. That's the fewest earned runs he has allowed since back in March. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI.
In other batting news, Pierse Jackson made the most of his time in the batter's box despite the final result and got on base in all four of his plate appearances with one run and one double. Andrew Kerley also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.
CSTHEA's defeat dropped their record down to 3-13. As for Marion County, their win bumped their record up to 11-8.
Marion County's speedy runners might be the difference in Thursday's game. The Warriors have been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 4.3 stolen bases per game. It's a different story for CSTHEA, though, as they've been averaging only 1.3 stolen bases. Will they be able to secure the bases, or will Marion County continue to outrun the ball?
Marion County skirted past CSTHEA 7-5 when the teams last played two weeks ago. Will the Warriors repeat their success, or do the Patriots have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
