The Ritchie County Rebels will head out on the road to take on the South Harrison Hawks at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Ritchie County has given up an average of 12.6 runs per game this season, but Tuesday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.
Ritchie County is headed into Tuesday's game looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their fourth straight games on Saturday. They lost 19-4 to East Fairmont.
Ritchie County saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Turner Shriver, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with two runs and one double. Teagan Backus was another, going 1-for-2 with one stolen base and two RBI.
Meanwhile, it was a Battle of the Birds when South Harrison challenged Braxton County on Saturday. The Hawks' pitcher stepped up to hand the Eagles a 17-0 shutout. The victory continues a trend for the Hawks in their matchups with the Eagles: they've now won five in a row.
Colton Patterson was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Patterson was also solid in the batter's box, going a perfect 2-for-2 with three RBI and one double.
In other batting news, Jaxon Anderson and Mason Belcastro did most of the damage at the plate: Anderson went a perfect 2-for-2 with three runs, two RBI, and one double, while Belcastro got on base in all three of his plate appearances with three runs and two RBI. That's the most runs Belcastro has posted since back in March of 2025. Another player making a difference was Jacob Watts, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI and one run.
South Harrison always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .778. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Braxton County only posted an OBP of .250.
Ritchie County's loss dropped their record down to 1-4. As for South Harrison, their record is now 2-0.
Ritchie County couldn't quite get it done against South Harrison when the teams last played back in April of 2025 as they fell 9-5. Can the Rebels avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.