The Jackson Polar Bears will head out to take on the North Royalton Bears at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. The last three games Jackson has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.
If Jackson beats North Royalton with two runs on Friday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two matchups with that exact score. The Polar Bears never let Wooster get on the board and left with a 2-0 win on Monday. The Polar Bears haven't had any issues with the Generals recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive victory against them.
North Royalton came out on top against Nordonia on Wednesday thanks in part to the team's impressive four-run seventh inning. The Bears took their game against the Knights 5-0. The contest marked the Bears' most dominant win of the season.
Not much got past Ben Baracz, who gave up just three hits to keep Nordonia off the board. Baracz has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Julian Tavarez was excellent, going 2-for-4 with two runs and one stolen base. He is becoming a predictor of North Royalton's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 3-1 (and 4-6 when he doesn't).
Jackson pushed their record up to 13-3 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.7 runs on average over those games. As for North Royalton, their victory ended a five-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 7-7.
Jackson beat North Royalton 6-1 when the teams last played back in March of 2018. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Polar Bears since the team 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
