The Eastern Eagles will venture away from home to take on the Belpre Golden Eagles at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Eastern is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last six games.
Eastern is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They blew past Federal Hocking 26-0 on Tuesday. Considering the Eagles have won nine contests by more than six runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Mason Shepherd
| 04/22/25 @ Federal Hocking | 1 |
| 04/09/25 vs Federal Hocking | 1 |
| 03/29/25 @ Alexander | 2 |
Mason Shepherd made a splash no matter where he played. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out ten over five innings pitched. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two hits in three consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs and two RBI. Those two runs gave him a new career-high.
In other batting news, Ayden Wilhelm was a standout: he went a perfect 3-for-3 with three stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI. That's the most hits he has posted since back in March. Blaise Gilmore was another key player, getting on base in four of his five plate appearances with three runs and three RBI.
Eastern always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .654. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, Belpre came up short against Trimble on Tuesday, falling 12-2. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest loss the Golden Eagles have suffered against the Tomcats since May 2, 2022.
Belpre saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Chase Maze, who went 2-for-3 with one double. That double was Maze's first of the season.
Belpre now has a losing record of 4-5. As for Eastern, their record now sits at 11-2.
Eastern was able to grind out a solid victory over Belpre when the teams last played two weeks ago, winning 5-1. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Eagles since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
