The Barren County Trojans will square off against the Central Hardin Bruins at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Barren County sitting on seven straight wins and Central Hardin on three.
Barren County is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Kentucky's top teams: Campbellsville, who was ranked 14th at the time (Barren County was ranked 23rd). The Trojans never let the Eagles get on the board and left with a 7-0 victory on Thursday. The Trojans might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven contests by six runs or more this season.
Barren County got a great performance from Skylar Potter as he didn't allow a single earned run over six innings pitched.
At the plate, Jackson Reece was excellent, going 1-for-3 with two runs and two RBI.
Central Hardin came out on top against John Hardin on Thursday thanks in part to the team's impressive seven-run fifth inning. The Bruins put the hurt on the Bulldogs with a sharp 14-4 win.
Mason Smith tossed a big game, striking out seven batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off four hits. He has become a key player for Central Hardin: the team is 2-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 9-10 otherwise.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Devin Hubbard, who went 3-for-4 with four stolen bases, three runs, and four RBI. He is becoming a predictor of Central Hardin's success: when he posts at least two stolen bases the team is 4-2 (and 7-9 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Reece Cowley, who went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI.
Barren County pushed their record up to 14-6 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.1 runs over those games. As for Central Hardin, the victory got them back to even at 11-11.
Barren County was able to grind out a solid win over Central Hardin when the teams last played back in March of 2024, winning 8-5. Will the Trojans repeat their success, or do the Bruins have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
