The Taylor County Cardinals will take on the Washington County Commanders at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Taylor County is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.5 runs per game this season.
Taylor County is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Kentucky's top teams: Campbellsville, who was ranked 20th at the time (Taylor County was ranked 13th). The Cardinals' pitcher stepped up to hand the Eagles a 3-0 shutout on Wednesday. The Cardinals haven't had any issues with the Eagles recently, as the game was their ninth consecutive victory against them.
Not much got past Cole McLean, who gave up just a hit and racked up 12 Ks to keep Campbellsville off the board. McLean has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one hit in three consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Taylor County's win was truly a team effort as four different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Layken Lyons, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI.
The scorekeeper got an easy start on Tuesday as neither Washington County nor Bethlehem made it on the board until the fifth inning. The Commanders blew past the Eagles/Banshees 10-0. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Commanders.
Camden Abell made a big impact no matter where he played. On the mound, he kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out six over six innings pitched. He also tossed a walk, which is notable because Washington County is 3-1 when he allows at most one walk, but 8-12 otherwise. Abell was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with three RBI, one run, and one double. Those three RBI gave him a new career-high.
In other batting news, Dylan Mattingly was incredible, going 1-for-3 with one home run and three RBI. Washington County is 2-1 when Mattingly posts one or more home runs, but 9-12 otherwise. Conner Gabhart was another key player, earning one RBI and two runs.
Taylor County's victory was their tenth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 18-4. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Washington County, their victory bumped their record up to 11-13.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Taylor County has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Washington County struggles in that department as they've been averaging 6.9 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Everything went Taylor County's way against Washington County when the teams last played back in April, as Taylor County made off with an 18-0 win. Will the Cardinals repeat their success, or do the Commanders have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
