The Upperman Bees are taking a road trip to face off against the Smith County Owls at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Upperman is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. Their pitcher stepped up to hand White County a 12-0 shutout on Tuesday. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest victory of the season.
Julian Llano made a big impact no matter where he played. He kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out eight over five innings pitched. Furthermore, he didn't allow a single walk, the first time he has blanked an opponent since back in May of 2024. He was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring two runs while going 2-for-2. That's the most runs he has posted over his last 11 games.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Carson Shupe, who scored three runs while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Justin Fallon, who scored two runs while going 1-for-2.
Upperman was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .381. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as White County only posted a batting average of .000.
Meanwhile, Smith County put another one in the bag on Tuesday to keep their perfect season alive. They were the clear victors by a 17-0 margin over Jackson County. The result was nothing new for the Owls, who have now won three matches by nine runs or more so far this season.
Like Upperman, Smith County also got a great game from a two-way player: Riley Martin. On the mound, he kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 11 over five innings pitched. Martin has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, getting on base in four of his five plate appearances with one home run, three RBI, and one double.
In other batting news, Smith County got a massive performance out of Bennett Gammon, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with two stolen bases, five RBI, and two runs. Gammon also put up a triple, which was his first of the season. Jacob Lapham was another key player, scoring three runs and stealing two bases while going 4-for-5.
Upperman's win was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 6-7. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.1 runs on average over those games. As for Smith County, their record now sits at 10-0.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Upperman has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.6 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Smith County struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 7.9 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Upperman skirted past Smith County 3-1 in their previous meeting back in April of 2024. Will Upperman repeat their success, or does Smith County has a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
