Baseball Game Preview: Baker County Wildcats vs. Clay Blue Devils

The Baker County Wildcats will take on the Clay Blue Devils at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

Baker County is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand ED White a 10-0 shutout. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Wildcats.

Blane Chauncey tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run while striking out 13 over five innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one walk in ten consecutive appearances.

Hank Dyal

Hits (Career)

04/15/25 vs ED White	3
04/07/25 vs Baldwin	2
03/17/25 @ Cocoa Beach	2
03/06/25 @ Hilliard	2
02/28/25 @ Tift County	2

At the plate, Hank Dyal was a standout: he scored two runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-3. Those three hits gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Wesley Crockett, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-3.

Baker County was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .462. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Clay). They were the clear victors by an 18-3 margin over Riverside on Tuesday. The Blue Devils might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won ten matches by six runs or more this season.

LJ Martin was incredible, going a perfect 2-for-2 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. That home run was his first of the season. Another player making a difference was Easton McMahan, who went 1-for-2 with one home run and three RBI.

The win was the third in a row for Clay, bringing their record up to 17-9. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.7 runs on average over those games. As for Baker County, their win bumped their record up to 10-14.

Baker County suffered a grim 8-1 defeat to Clay in their previous meeting back in February. Can the Wildcats avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.