The Ragsdale Tigers will square off against the Grimsley Whirlies at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Ragsdale comes in on ten and Grimsley on nine.
Ragsdale can't be too worried about heading out to take on Grimsley: they just beat Southwest Guilford at home, who had been dominant on their own field up to that point. The Tigers never let the Cowboys get on the board and left with a 1-0 win on Thursday. That's two games straight that the Tigers have won by just one run.
Ragsdale saw seven different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Dillon Bullard, who went 1-for-3 with one double.
Meanwhile, Grimsley was able to grind out a solid victory over Northern Guilford on Wednesday, taking the game 4-1.
Jacob Benbow looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit over four innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up a single earned run in four consecutive appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Sebastian Rodriguez, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one double. That's the most hits he has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Max Snyder, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one run and one RBI.
Grimsley always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .536. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Northern Guilford only posted an OBP of .125.
Grimsley's win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 21-4. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Ragsdale, their record is now 18-6.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Ragsdale has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.4 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Grimsley struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 9 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Ragsdale couldn't quite get it done against Grimsley when the teams last played back in March as they fell 8-3. Can the Tigers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
