Baseball Game Preview: North Laurel Jaguars vs. Clay County Tigers

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Previous Games

04/16/24 - Home	5-4 W
04/15/24 - Away	10-11 L
05/16/23 - Home	3-4 L
04/18/23 - Away	18-15 W
04/17/23 - Home	6-4 W
+ 5 more games

North Laurel and Clay County are an even 5-5 against one another since May of 2019, but likely not for long. The Jaguars will welcome the Tigers at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

North Laurel took a loss when they played away from home on Thursday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Saturday. They were the clear victors by an 11-1 margin over Knox Central. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Jaguars considering their one-run performance the matchup before.

Bradyn Evans spent all six innings played on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on three hits.

On the hitting side, Eli Holt was a standout: he went 3-for-4 with one home run, three RBI, and one double. Those three RBI gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Cooper Parman, who went 2-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and one stolen base.

North Laurel was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .393. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Knox Central only posted a batting average of .150.

Meanwhile, after only one run in their last game, Clay County made sure to put some runs up on the board against Harlan County on Saturday. The Tigers blew past the Black Bears 17-5. Considering the Tigers have won seven contests by more than five runs this season, Saturday's blowout was nothing new.

North Laurel pushed their record up to 8-8 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.8 runs over those games. As for Clay County, their victory bumped their record up to 11-7.

North Laurel skirted past Clay County 5-4 in their previous matchup back in April of 2024. Will the Jaguars repeat their success, or do the Tigers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.