The Brighton Bulldogs will head out on the road to challenge the Fossil Ridge SaberCats at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Brighton is strutting in with some hitting muscle, as they've averaged 7.7 runs per game this season.
On Tuesday, Brighton faced Fort Collins in a battle between two of the state's top teams. Brighton fell just short of Fort Collins by a score of 8-6. Brighton's defeat signaled the end of their three-game winning streak.
Brighton saw eight different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Hesston Edens, who went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBI. Brandon Waltemath was another key contributor, scoring a run while going 1-for-3.
Even though they lost, Brighton didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with ten strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Fort Collins only tossed four.
Meanwhile, Fossil Ridge is still undefeated this season after their matchup against Broomfield on Tuesday, but Broomfield came as close as anyone has to beating them. Fossil Ridge came out on top in a nail-biter against Broomfield and snuck past 6-4.
Brek Benedict looked comfortable as he tossed 1.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (he also didn't allow any walks).
On the hitting side, Shane Crough and Owen Morgan did most of the damage at the plate: Crough got on base in three of his four plate appearances with a home run and a stolen base, while Morgan got on base in three of his four plate appearances with a triple, a run, and an RBI. Another player making a difference was Hayden Bradford, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in two of his three plate appearances.
Brighton's loss dropped their record down to 6-3. As for Fossil Ridge, their win was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 8-0.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Brighton has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Fossil Ridge struggles in that department as they've been averaging 11.2. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Brighton came up short against Fossil Ridge in their previous meeting back in April of 2023, falling 4-0. Thankfully for Brighton, Tyler Kubat (who didn't allow a single earned run while striking out 11 over six innings pitched) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
