Baseball Game Preview: Bell Bulldogs vs. Hamilton County Trojans

The Bell Bulldogs will challenge the Hamilton County Trojans at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Bell has four straight victories, Hamilton County has four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Last Tuesday, Bell earned a 6-3 win over Fort White.

Chance Mandarino spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned (and two unearned) runs on four hits.

Jackson Philman

Runs

03/11/25 vs Fort White	2
03/07/25 vs Dixie County	2
02/25/25 vs Riverside Christian	2
02/21/25 @ Hamilton County	2
02/18/25 @ Fort White	2
+ 3 more games

On the hitting side, Jackson Philman and RJ Leffler did most of the damage at the plate: Philman scored two runs while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances, while Leffler went a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBI and one double. Philman is becoming a predictor of Bell's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 4-1 (and 2-3 when he doesn't). Dean Glass was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.

Hamilton County might be feeling deja-vu: they lost 11-1 to Georgia Christian, which was the same score (and result) they got the week prior.

Hamilton County's loss dropped their record down to 2-8. As for Bell, their victory bumped their record up to 6-4.

Bell took their win against Hamilton County in their previous matchup back in February by a conclusive 15-1. Will Bell repeat their success, or does Hamilton County have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.