The East Carter Raiders will challenge the Russell Red Devils at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday.
East Carter came into their game on Tuesday off a hard-fought close win, but unfortunately suffered a serious change of fortune. They came up short against Raceland, falling 14-4. The loss was the Raiders' first of the season.
East Carter saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Brayden Flatt, who scored a run while going 1-for-3. Colton McGuire was another, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Russell gave their fans exactly what they wanted out of a home opener on Thursday. They put the hurt on Fairview with a sharp 11-1 win. The Red Devils haven't had any issues with the Eagles recently, as the game was their eighth consecutive victory against them.
Kyle Mokas made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out nine over 4.2 innings pitched. Furthermore, he didn't allow a single earned run, the first time he has blanked an opponent since back in April of 2024. He was also big at the plate, going a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. That's the most hits he has posted since back in April of 2024.
In other batting news, Hayden McGuire was excellent, going a perfect 2-for-2 with one triple, two RBI, and one run. Another player making a difference was Lokelio Ancheta, who scored two runs while going 2-for-3.
Russell was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .440. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Fairview only posted a batting average of .062.
East Carter's loss ended a six-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 2-1. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.3 runs over those games. As for Russell, their win bumped their record up to 1-0.
East Carter took their victory against Russell in their previous matchup back in May of 2024 by a conclusive 11-5. Will East Carter repeat their success, or does Russell have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
