The Valley Rams will venture away from home to face off against the Central of Clay County Volunteers at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Valley is currently enjoying a perfect season and no doubt wants to keep things rolling.
Valley's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They had just enough and edged Callaway out 1-0.
The result came thanks to Seth Hammock's shutout, as he gave up just three hits and racked up nine Ks.
Valley hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now struck out at most five strikeouts in three consecutive contests.
Central of Clay County's found some homefield redemption this week after a overtime loss to Beulah on Wednesday. Central of Clay County blew past Randolph County 12-2. With that win, the Volunteers brought their scoring average up to 6.6 runs per game.
Kalvin Simmons was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Simmons was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while going 2-for-3.
In other pitching news, Kaiden Glenn looked comfortable as he pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits.
Back at the plate, Central of Clay County got a massive performance out of Taylor Boyd, who scored three runs and stole three bases while going 1-for-2. Boyd also put up a double, which washis first of the season. Eli Harris was another key player, scoring three runs and stealing two bases while going 2-for-3.
Valley's victory was their 14th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 4-0. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.9 runs over those games. As for Central of Clay County, their record now sits at 2-3.
Friday's game will be a test for both team's pitchers. Valley hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having hit 0 of their hits per game. However, it's not like Central of Clay County struggles in that department as they've hit 0 of their hits this season. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Valley skirted past Central of Clay County 5-3 in their previous meeting back in February of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for Valley since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
