North Clay/Clay City will take on the Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City Bobcats at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. The timing is sure in North Clay/Clay City's favor as the squad sits on four straight wins at home while Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City has been banged up by four consecutive losses on the road.
North Clay/Clay City's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They were the clear victors by a 6-0 margin over Tuscola. Considering North Clay/Clay City has won ten games by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Not much got past Cayden Craig, who gave up just four hits to keep Tuscola off the board. Craig has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Carder Walden was excellent, going 1-for-3 with one home run and three RBI. Another player making a difference was Ian Jones, who went 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI.
Meanwhile, Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City made easy work of Martinsville on Thursday and carried off a 10-0 victory. The Bobcats haven't had any issues with the Bluestreaks recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive win against them.
AJ Radloff made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out eight batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Those eight strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also stellar in the batter's box, getting on base in two of his four plate appearances with four stolen bases and two runs. He has become a key player for Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 2-14 otherwise.
In other batting news, Isaac Wells and Blake Mueller did most of the damage at the plate: Wells went a perfect 1-for-1 with one home run, while Mueller went 3-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and one double. Mueller is becoming a predictor of Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 3-14 when he doesn't). Kaidyn Calame was another key player, going 1-for-2 with two stolen bases and one run.
North Clay/Clay City's victory bumped their record up to 20-6. As for Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City, their win bumped their record up to 7-14.
North Clay/Clay City was able to grind out a solid victory over Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City in their previous matchup back in May of 2024, winning 11-6. Will North Clay/Clay City repeat their success, or does Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City has a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
