The Eastern Warriors will take on the West Union Dragons at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Eastern comes in still looking for their first win of the season.
Eastern couldn't beat Manchester on Friday even though they stacked five runs on them in the first inning. The Warriors lost 16-5 to the Greyhounds.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask West Union). They never let Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington get on the board and left with a 17-0 win on Monday. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Dragons considering their one-run performance the contest before.
Thomas Barnhart made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 15 over five innings pitched. Those 15 strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also big at the plate, going a perfect 4-for-4 with one home run, four runs, and one triple. He also hit a double, marking his first of the season.
In other batting news, Nate Fooce and Jentezen Dryden did most of the damage at the plate: Fooce got on base in three of his four plate appearances with four stolen bases, three runs, and one RBI, while Dryden got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases, three RBI, and two runs. Those two runs gave Dryden a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Billy Flaugher, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI, one stolen base, and one run.
West Union always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .657. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Eastern's defeat dropped their record down to 0-7. As for West Union, their victory (their first of the season) made their record 1-11.
Eastern came out on top in a nail-biter against West Union in their previous matchup back in May of 2022, sneaking past 5-4. Do the Warriors have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Dragons turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
