The Central Hardin Bruins will venture away from home to take on the Barren County Trojans at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Central Hardin had to skate by with only a one-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the ten-run drubbing they dealt John Hardin on Thursday. The Bruins blew past the Bulldogs 14-4. The win was familiar territory for the Bruins, who have now won three games in a row.
Mason Smith tossed a big game, striking out seven batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off four hits. Those seven strikeouts gave him a new career-high.
Devin Hubbard
| 04/24/25 vs John Hardin | 4 |
| 03/29/25 vs Bethlehem | 3 |
| 05/10/24 vs Larue County | 3 |
| 04/18/24 @ John Hardin | 3 |
| 04/12/25 vs Owensboro | 2 |
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Devin Hubbard, who went 3-for-4 with four stolen bases, three runs, and four RBI. Those four RBI gave him a new career-high. Reece Cowley was another key player, going 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI.
Meanwhile, Barren County faced Campbellsville in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Thursday. The Trojans' pitchers stepped up to hand the Eagles a 7-0 shutout. The Trojans might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven matchups by six runs or more this season.
Barren County also got a great performance from Skylar Potter as he didn't allow a single earned run over six innings pitched.
On the hitting side, Jackson Reece was excellent, going 1-for-3 with two runs and two RBI.
Barren County is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 14-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.2 runs on average over those games. As for Central Hardin, their win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-11.
Central Hardin couldn't quite get it done against Barren County in their previous meeting back in March of 2024 as they fell 8-5. Can the Bruins avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
