Clay County is on a four-game streak of home wins, while Roane County is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Panthers will welcome the Raiders at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Monday, Clay County needed a bit of extra time to put away Capital. They skirted past the Cougars 3-2. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Panthers have posted since April 29, 2024.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Roane County). They were the clear victors by a 21-1 margin over Poca on Wednesday. With that win, the Raiders brought their scoring average up to 6.8 runs per game.
C ASH made a splash while hitting and pitching. He struck out six batters over 4.1 innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. Roane County is undefeated when ASH allows one or fewer earned runs, but 2-6 otherwise. ASH was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two RBI and one run.
In other batting news, C KINDER and J GREATHOUSE did most of the damage at the plate: KINDER went 3-for-4 with one home run, five runs, and five RBI, while GREATHOUSE went 3-for-4 with two triples, two stolen bases, and three runs. KINDER has become a key player for Roane County: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 1-6 otherwise. Another player making a difference was W BRABHAM, who got on base in four of his five plate appearances with two runs, one double, and one RBI.
Roane County always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .605. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their OBP total in three consecutive contests.
Clay County has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five games. That's provided a massive bump to their 6-6 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.8 runs on average over those games. As for Roane County, their win bumped their record up to 5-6.
Clay County couldn't quite finish off Roane County when the teams last played back in April of 2024 and fell 3-1. Can the Panthers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
