The Fountain Inn Fury will challenge the Emerald Vikings at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. The last three games Fountain Inn has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.
Fountain Inn gave up the first runs on Friday, but they didn't let that get them down. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Laurens, sneaking past 5-3. The Fury have beaten the Raiders the last four times they've met, but they better watch out: this was the closest the Raiders has come to flipping the script.
Luke Tanner
| 04/11/25 @ Laurens | 1 |
| 04/09/25 vs Laurens | 0 |
| 04/03/25 @ J.L. Mann | 1 |
| 03/26/25 vs Westside | 2 |
Luke Tanner looked comfortable as he pitched 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Carter Kelly and Joel Irizarry did most of the damage at the plate: Kelly scored two runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances, while Irizarry went 1-for-3 with one triple and two RBI. That's the most RBI Irizarry has posted since back in March.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Emerald). Their pitchers stepped up to hand Southside a 20-0 shutout on Wednesday. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest victory of the season.
Eli Swancey and Beau Hite made a big impact no matter where they played. On the mound, Swancey tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Meanwhile, Hite pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. At the plate, Swancey scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3, while Hite went 1-for-2 with four RBI, one triple, and one run. Emerald is undefeated when Swancey posts two or more runs, but 3-9 otherwise.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Ethan Metts, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-2. The team also got some help courtesy of Aaron Polly, who scored two runs while going 2-for-2.
Emerald always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .778. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Fountain Inn's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 17-3. Those road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for Emerald, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 7-9.
