The Fairmont Golden Tornadoes will square off against the West Bladen Knights at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Fairmont took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against St. Pauls, sneaking past 5-3. The win was a breath of fresh air for the Golden Tornadoes as it put an end to their three-game losing streak.
Mynkoda Smith spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered three runs (all of which were unearned) on four hits and racked up 12 Ks.
Nehemiah Chavis
| 03/25/25 vs Red Springs | 3 |
| 03/06/25 vs Dillon Christian | 3 |
| 03/04/25 @ West Columbus | 3 |
| 02/25/25 vs Overhills | 3 |
| 04/10/25 vs St. Pauls | 2 |
| + 8 more games |
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Nehemiah Chavis, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4. He has become a key player for Fairmont: the team is 5-2 when he posts at least two runs, but 4-6 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Kenley Callahan, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-2.
Meanwhile, West Bladen owes their pitching crew a big pat on the back after their performance on Thursday. They came out on top against Midway by a score of 5-0.
The result came thanks to Brady Durden's shutout, as he gave up just two hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up a single earned run in four consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Hunter Hester was excellent, scoring a run while going 2-for-2. Another player making a difference was Tyler Lewis, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
West Bladen was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .391. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Midway only posted a batting average of .042.
West Bladen's victory was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-4. The home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.3 runs over those games. As for Fairmont, they now have a winning record of 9-8.
Fairmont suffered a grim 9-3 defeat to West Bladen in their previous matchup back in April of 2024. Can the Golden Tornadoes avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
