The Beckville Bearcats are on the road again on Thursday to play the Kerens Bobcats at 4:00 p.m. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Beckville is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. Everything went their way against Maud as Beckville made off with a 12-2 win. The result was nothing new for Beckville, who have now won 16 games by six runs or more so far this season.
Aiden Brantley spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered two runs (both of which were unearned) on three hits and racked up ten Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in five consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Coy Stephens, who got on base in all five of his plate appearances with two stolen bases, five RBI, and two runs. Coleman Bullock was another key contributor, going 2-for-5 with two runs, a triple, and an RBI.
Meanwhile, Kerens' rock-solid pitchers showed up for the team's 15th consecutive shutout on Friday. They never let Linden-Kildare onto the board and left with a 4-0 victory.
Kannon Ritchie was a major factor no matter where he played. On the mound, he kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 13 over 6.1 innings pitched. Ritchie was also big at the plate, scoring a run while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.
In other batting news, Kerens let Andy Conklin and Adrian Solis loose on the outfield. Conklin got on base in three of his four plate appearances with a triple, a stolen base, and an RBI, while Solis scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-3.
Beckville's win bumped their record up to 24-3-1. As for Kerens, they are on a roll lately: they've won 19 of their last 20 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 23-5 record this season.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Beckville has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Kerens struggles in that department as they've been averaging 10.7. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Beckville was able to grind out a solid victory over Kerens in their previous meeting back in May of 2023, winning 3-0. Does Beckville have another victory up their sleeve, or will Kerens turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
