The Rison Wildcats will face off against the Monticello Billies at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
The home team had won the previous three meetings between Rison and Dumas, and Rison kept the tradition alive. The Wildcats were the clear victors by a 14-1 margin over the Bobcats on Tuesday. The result was nothing new for the Wildcats, who have now won four matchups by 11 runs or more so far this season.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Monticello, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Saturday. Their pitchers stepped up to hand Watson Chapel a 9-0 shutout on Tuesday. The victory continues a trend for the Billies in their matchups with the Wildcats: they've now won eight in a row.
Hudson Harvey made a splash while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out 12 over six innings pitched. He also tossed a walk, which is notable because Monticello is 2-1 when he allows at most two walks, but 4-7 otherwise. Harvey was also solid in the batter's box, going a perfect 1-for-1 with one double and one RBI.
In other pitching news, Bo Hammock looked comfortable as he pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. He is becoming a predictor of Monticello's success: when he allows at most one hit the team is 3-1 (and 3-7 when he doesn't).
Back at the plate, Blaine Hayden was excellent, scoring a run while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. The team also got some help courtesy of Jackson Hines, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-3.
Rison pushed their record up to 8-3 with the win, which was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season. Those home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.0 runs over those games. As for Monticello, their win bumped their record up to 6-8.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps