The West Branch Warriors will head out on the road to square off against the Columbiana Clippers at 12:00 p.m. on Friday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this game.
West Branch had taken Marlington down for two straight games at home, but that winning streak came to an end on Wednesday. The Warriors fell just short of the Dukes by a score of 3-1. That's two games in a row now that the Warriors have lost by exactly two runs.
Meanwhile, Columbiana was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their fourth straight loss. They were a single run away from ending the streak, but they lost a 4-3 heartbreaker at the hands of Crestview.
Avery Young put in work while hitting and pitching. He pitched five innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off five hits. Young was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, one run, and one double.
Young wasn't the only one making solid contact as two players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Liam McElwain, who went 2-for-4 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI. McElwain is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged at least one in each of the last seven games he's played.
This is the second loss in a row for West Branch and nudges their season record down to 3-5. Those defeats can't be blamed on the team's pitching effort, having only surrendered a grand total of 5 runs in those games. As for Columbiana, their loss dropped their record down to 5-7.
West Branch came out on top in a nail-biter against Columbiana in their previous meeting back in May of 2024, sneaking past 12-10. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Warriors since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
