The Clover Blue Eagles will head out on the road to square off against the York Cougars at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Clover barely beat Hillcrest the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Blue Eagles never let the Rams get on the board and left with a 7-0 win on Wednesday. The victory was familiar territory for the Blue Eagles, who have now won five games in a row.
Aiden Smith
| 04/02/25 vs Hillcrest | 5 |
| 03/24/25 @ Northwestern | 9 |
| 03/17/25 vs Fort Mill | 7 |
| 03/11/25 vs Rock Hill | 6 |
| 03/03/25 vs Blacksburg | 13 |
Aiden Smith tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run over five innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in five consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Aiden Wainscott was incredible, going 2-for-3 with four RBI and two doubles. Those two doubles gave him a new career-high. Carson Politsch also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask York). They put the hurt on Dreher with a sharp 17-3 win on Thursday. The result was nothing new for the Cougars, who have now won six matches by seven runs or more so far this season.
Colby Falls made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Falls was even better at the plate, scoring three runs while going 3-for-3.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Connor Sweatt, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, four RBI, and two runs. The team also got some help courtesy of Larson Montgomery, who scored four runs while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.
York kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 14 hits. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 5.6 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 contests they've averaged 10.
York is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games. That's provided a nice bump to their 9-5 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.8 runs over those games. As for Clover, their win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 10-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Clover has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like York struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.6 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Clover skirted past York 4-3 when the teams last played back in April of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Blue Eagles since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
