The Sun Valley Spartans will take on the South Mecklenburg Sabres at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Having struggled with three defeats in a row, Sun Valley turned things around against Lake Norman on Monday. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past the Wildcats 4-3. While the Spartans didn't have the best season last year (they finished 8-16), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.
Bryson Thomas tossed a big game, striking out seven batters over 6.2 innings while giving up three earned runs off five hits.
At the plate, Paxton Homewood was excellent, scoring a run while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances.
Meanwhile, South Mecklenburg waltzed into their match on Friday with four straight wins... but they left with five. They came within a single run of losing the streak, but they secured a 2-1 W against the Pumas. The game snapped a strange streak: the last four times these teams have met, it?s been the away team that?s taken home the W.
Connor Longley looked comfortable as he pitched 2.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. What's more, he posted three strikeouts, the most he's had since back in April of 2024.
On the hitting side, South Mecklenburg saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Pete Halstead, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with one RBI.
South Mecklenburg's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 9-4. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Sun Valley, their win bumped their record up to 7-3.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Sun Valley has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.4 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like South Mecklenburg struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 7.3 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Sun Valley suffered a grim 10-4 defeat to South Mecklenburg when the teams last played back in March of 2024. Can Sun Valley avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
