The Mineral County Serpents will head out on the road to challenge the Virginia City Muckers at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Mineral County has four straight wins, Virginia City has eight straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Mineral County is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They put the hurt on Lee Vining with a sharp 23-6 victory on Tuesday. Considering the Serpents have won nine matchups by more than six runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Michael Blackwood
| 04/15/25 @ Lee Vining | 5 |
| 05/04/24 @ Wells | 3 |
| 03/22/25 @ Tonopah | 2 |
| 03/08/25 @ Coleville | 2 |
| 04/16/24 vs Tonopah | 2 |
Mineral County let Evan Cox and Michael Blackwood run wild. Cox got on base in all four of his plate appearances with five stolen bases, four runs, and one RBI, while Blackwood went 3-for-4 with five RBI, three runs, and one double. Those five RBI gave Blackwood a new career-high. Sean Ethridge was another key player, going 1-for-4 with three stolen bases, three RBI, and two runs.
Excel Christian hit Virginia City with a four-run fourth inning on Thursday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Muckers lost 9-3 to the Warriors.
Tyler Battaglia made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and earned one run and four stolen bases.
Mineral County's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 10-8. The road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.3 runs over those games. As for Virginia City, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-14.
Virginia City's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Mineral County hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .359. It's a different story for Virginia City, though, as they've only averaged .200. Will they be able to contain Mineral County's hitters?
Everything went Mineral County's way against Virginia City in their previous matchup back in March of 2024, as Mineral County made off with a 15-7 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Serpents since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
