The Berthoud Spartans will look to defend their home field on Saturday against the Basalt Longhorns at 10:00 a.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Berthoud has eight straight victories, Basalt has six straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Last Tuesday, it was close, but Berthoud sidestepped Forge Christian for a 5-4 win. That's two games straight that Berthoud has won by just one run.
The team relied heavily on Jack McCrea, who scored three runs and stole two bases while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. Wyatt Barmes was another key contributor, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Basalt came up short against Aspen on Tuesday and fell 9-6.
Gage Balderson put in work no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out ten batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off three hits. Balderson was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-3.
In other batting news, Hayden Rowley made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and scored three runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-3. Another player making a difference was Sebastian Oliver, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases and an RBI.
Berthoud pushed their record up to 22-1 with that victory, which was their 12th straight at home. As for Basalt, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-16.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Saturday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Berthoud has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Basalt struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.8. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
