The Oak Glen Golden Bears will head out to take on the East Liverpool Potters at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this match.
Oak Glen fought the good fight in their extra-innings game against Weir on Thursday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Red Riders by a score of 6-5. The Golden Bears haven't had much luck with the Red Riders recently, as the team has come up short the last four times they've met.
Noah Willey was huge no matter where he played even without the win. He didn't allow a single earned run while striking out seven over seven innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.
Willey wasn't the only one making solid contact as three players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Christian Chappell, who went 2-for-3 with one triple, two RBI, and one run.
Meanwhile, East Liverpool was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their 11th straight defeat. They took a 12-7 hit to the loss column at the hands of East Palestine. On the bright side, the seven- run effort marked the Potters' highest-scoring contest to date.
Like Oak Glen, East Liverpool also got a great game from a two-way player: Nate Birch. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Those zero hits allowed gave Birch a new career-low. He was also stellar in the batter's box, going a perfect 3-for-3 with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI. That run was his first of the season.
Oak Glen's record is now 9-12. As for East Liverpool, their record now sits at 1-17.
Everything went Oak Glen's way against East Liverpool in their previous meeting last Thursday, as Oak Glen made off with a 13-6 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Golden Bears since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
