vs
| 04/18/23 - Home | 10-0 W |
| 03/31/23 - Away | 12-2 W |
| 03/28/22 - Away | 15-2 W |
| 03/17/22 - Home | 5-0 W |
| 04/21/21 - Away | 11-1 W |
| + 5 more games |
Cleveland and Ooltewah are an even 5-5 against one another since May of 2018, but likely not for long. The Blue Raiders are taking a road trip to challenge the Owls at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
Cleveland came up short against Baylor on Thursday, falling 10-1. The Blue Raiders haven't had much luck with the Red Raiders recently, as the team has come up short the last five times they've met.
Cleveland saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Landri Nelson, who scored a run while going 1-for-3. Sofia Greene also deserves some recognition as she snagged her first stolen base of the season.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Ooltewah, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Thursday. They blew past Oak Ridge 9-3 on Saturday. Considering the Owls have won 13 matches by more than five runs this season, Saturday's blowout was nothing new.
Jaeda Tucker made a splash while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out seven batters over seven innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off three hits. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in four consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 2-for-4.
In other batting news, Addilyn Watts and Emmerson Reed did most of the damage at the plate: Watts scored three runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4, while Reed scored two runs while going 2-for-3. Those three hits gave Watts a new career-high. Katelyn Gelbaugh was another key player, scoring a run while going 1-for-1.
Ooltewah was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .419. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Oak Ridge only posted a batting average of .167.
Ooltewah's win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 15-4. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.8 runs on average over those games. As for Cleveland, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-10.
Cleveland took their win against Ooltewah in their previous matchup back in April of 2023 by a conclusive 10-0 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Blue Raiders since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
